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LIFE AND SERVICE SERIES 



STUDIES IN THE PARABLES OF JESUS 
HALFORD E. LUCCOCK 

HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
RALPH WELLES KEELER 

AMOS, THE PROPHET OF A NEW ORDER 
LINDSAY B. LONGACRE 

ELEMENTS OF PERSONAL CHRISTIANITY 
WILLIAM S. MITCHELL 

THE CHRISTIAN IN SOCIAL 
RELATIONSHIPS 

DORR FRANK DIEFENDORF 



LIFE AND SERVICE SERIES 

Edited bj HENRIf H. MEYER 



The Christian in Social 
Relationships 



By 

DORR FRANK DIEFENDORF 




«» 



THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI 



^\^^ 

-^X^"" 



Copyright, 1922, by 
DORR FRANK DIEFENDORF 



Printed in the United States of America. 



The Bible text uaed in this volume is taken from the"" American Standard 
Edition of the Revised Bible, copyright, 1901, by Thomas Nelson & Sons, and 
is used by permission. 



FEB 1 8 1922 

©GLA653857 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAQB 

Life and Service Series 6 

I. The Social Emphasis in Christianity 7 

II. The Christian and Public Education 16 

III, The Christian and the Wage Problem 26 

IV. The Christian and Working Conditions . . 36 
V. The Christian and Public Health 45 

VI. The Christian and Public Amusement. ... 54 

VII. The Christian and Commercialized Evil. . 63 

VIII. The Christian and the Treatment of 

Criminals 72 

IX. The Christian's Political Responsibility . 81 

X. The Christian and World Progress 90 

XI. The Christian and World Brotherhood ... 99 

XII. The Christian and the Efficient Church . 108 

XIII. The Kingdom of God a Practical Ideal. . . 117 



LIFE AND SERVICE SERIES 

Increasingly both young people and adults in the Sun- 
day school are manifesting an interest in special study 
courses. As the number of organized classes has grown 
and their attendance increased the desire frequently 
has been expressed for a variety of courses from which 
choice may be made. In response to this demand the 
Life and Service Series, in common with a number of 
other series of studies, is offered. 

It will be noted that this series in itself offers con- 
siderable variety in subject matter of courses. It includes 
studies in selected portions of the Bible, both Old and New 
Testaments, Christian doctrinal teachings, practical ethics, 
social service, and other subjects of special interest. 

The present volume is one of a group of four which may 
be studied to advantage in consecutive order as follows: 
Elements of Personal Christianity; Characteristics of the 
Christian Life; The Christian in Social Relationships; 
Fundamentals for Daily Living. Taken together, the four 
constitute a yearns study on the Christian in Daily Life, 
a fairly comprehensive series of studies in foundation 
principles and teachings of Christianity applicable to pres- 
ent-day conditions. Studied either as one of this group 
of courses, as suggested, or separately as an independent 
short course, it is believed that The Christian in Social 
Relationships will be found to be an informing, thought- 
provoking and religiously stimulating discussion. It 
should aid earnest men and women in discovering what 
Christianity teaches as to social duties and responsibilities. 

The Editors. 



CHAPTEEI 

THE SOCIAL EMPHASIS IN CHEISTIANITY 

For reference and study: Isa. 1. 10-17; Matt. 7. 1-12; 
25. 31-46; Luke 10. 25-37; 16. 19-31; Acts 2. 44-47; 
4. 32-37; Eom. 13. 8-10; 1 Cor. 12. 12-31. 

The Example and Teaching of Jesus 

1. Jesus our Saviour. — -Jesus was not so much a re- 
former as a Saviour. His first concern was with the 
individual. But the individual is a member of a family, 
he is the citizen of a community, he belongs to a church, 
he has innumerable associations in the world of business 
and of social life. He never stands alone. If he is to be 
saved, the social environment of which he is a part must 
also be saved. If the society of which he is a part is saved, 
his own salvation becomes just that much more certain. 

Jestis was trained in the Old Testament Scriptures. As 
a member of a devout Jewish household his mind was 
steeped in the teachings of the prophets and sages of his 
race. Such a passage as Isa. 1. 10-17 would point him 
away from empty formalism in religion toward a life of 
human service. When the prophet, as the spokesman of 
God, says, "Put away the evil of your doings from before 
mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek jus- 
tice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for 
the widow,^^ we hear a note that echoes and reechoes in 
the message of Jesus. In such words the prophet has the 
vision of a redeemed society before his mind. Such teach- 
ing forms the background of the ministry and message of 
Jesus. 

2. The method of Jesus. — The New Testament shows us 
that Jesus delivered few if any formal discourses or ser- 
mons. His favorite method of teaching was to tell a 
story. The most of his saving principles and ideals are 

7 



8 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

thus set forth. But in the Sermon on the Mount we have 
an utterance that seems to form an exception. Here we 
have a more extended discourse dealing with the principles 
and purposes of the kingdom he came to establish in the 
earth. 

Matt. 7. 1-12 is a typical section of this sermon. No- 
tice how in this passage we have echoes of the words just 
quoted from Isaiah. But also notice how much further 
Jesus goes. Here is the proclamation of the Golden Eule. 
And while we must admit that this rule has not yet been 
very widely applied to lif e^ progress has been and is being 
constantly made. Eecently a splendid Canadian soldier 
gave some of his life blood to save an Austrian who a 
short time before had confronted him as his enemy. And 
we are told that this was done after several of the Aus- 
trian's own kinsmen had refused to make this sacrifice. 
It is this practical application of Jesus' teaching about 
doing to others as we would that they should do unto us 
which helps forward the work of the regeneration of human 
society. 

The story of the good Samaritan and the scene of the 
Last Judgment, as portrayed by Jesus, emphasize the 
social aspects of his teaching. The Jew hated the Samari- 
tan and the Samaritan hated the Jew. But in the gospel 
of love, the gospel of redemption, there is no place for 
the kind of disposition that leads us to neglect to perform 
the services we owe our fellow men. The good Samaritan 
binds up the wounds of his unfortunate fellow traveler 
and provides for him as if he were his dearest friend. But 
very recent history shows us how hard it is to cultivate 
and manifest this spirit. A good Christian woman re- 
cently remarked of the starving women and children of a 
former enemy country, ^^Let them starve: they have 
brought it all on themselves.'' Even patriotism must be 
brought into conformity with the principles of Jesus, or 
else it retards instead of helping the building of the 
kingdom of God in the earth. 

Are there not in your own community some striking 
instances of what happens when persons take seriously the 
words of Jesus, *^Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these 



EMPHASIS IN CHRISTIANITY 9 

my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me'^? 
Groups of Christian workers have organized themselves 
about these words and, week by week, carry on beneficent 
activities the value of which is much greater than can be 
measured. Can you not think of many instances in your 
own life in which these words have led you to do what 
otherwise you might have neglected ? 

Jesus did what he exhorted others to do, and more. 
His treatment of Zacch^us, his interview with the Samari- 
tan woman, his way of dealing with the Syrophoenician 
woman, are striking examples of his own practice. 

3. The kingdom of God. — The social message of Jesus 
culminates in his teaching concerning the kingdom of 
God. It is not our purpose to consider that teaching here. 
More than a hundred times, even in the brief record we 
have, the words ^^kingdom of God,^^ or their equivalent, 
are used by Jesus. But if God is to rule, he must have 
subjects. The subjects of his rule must live in social 
relations with each other. There are interests they have 
in common and activities they follow in common. There 
are sins that cannot be traced to one person here or an- 
other there, but which belong to the whole group involved. 
There is righteousness that must be achieved in common 
effort. The gospel of the Kingdom is the gospel of the 
common life. It affects and includes every one of us. 

The Example and Teaching of the Eakly Church 

1. After Jesus, Paul. — The apostle to the Gentiles had 
much to do with the development and trend of early 
Christianity. After his conversion on the Damascus road 
he gave his life to the work of carrying the message of 
Jesus near and far. He was especially solicitous for those 
outside the pale of Judaism, although he never over- 
looked the members of his own race. 

It is true that Paul was deeply concerned with the 
gospel as a system of thought. He was himself a thinker 
and he devoted a large part of his life to building up a 
system of truth which would stand the most searching 
intellectual testing. But in all his most striking utter- 
ances we have the mind of his Master and ours. 



10 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

In Eom. 13. 8-10, after an enumeration of the com- 
mandments that seek to regulate our conduct toward our 
^^neighbor/^ Paul sums up, "Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bor as thyself . • . love ... is the fulfillment of the 
law/^ 

In the love poem of the New Testament we have an 
outburst from the fervent heart of this Christ-filled man 
which far surpasses any other similar utterance. The 
social gospel finds its creed in 1 Cor. 13. Although faith 
and hope abide, the place of primacy belongs to love. But 
love is a social virtue; it grows out of the relations we 
bear to each other. Its absence indicates breakdown and 
failure. Its presence indicates the indwelling of the Spirit 
of Christ. 

2. The early church. — The teaching of Jesus and Paul 
was followed with great fidelity by the early church. The 
members of this new fellowship regarded themselves as 
brethren and they obeyed the law of brotherhood as they 
understood it. 

Two striking passages stand out from the incomplete 
record. Acts 2. 44-47 and 4. 32-37 bring before us a pic- 
ture of almost idyllic conditions. New Testament schol- 
ars are not entirely agreed as to the exact interpretation 
of these passages. But it is perfectly plain that if any 
member of that early Christian community suffered want 
or need, all the others felt obligated to relieve it. They 
did not wait for any outside agency to act for them. Their 
love for each other regulated the use and administration 
of their possessions. 

They recognized the dangers of worldly possessions. 
Then, as now, things might easily take the place of more 
important considerations. Jesus had said, "It is easier 
for a camel to go through a needless eye, than for a rich 
man to enter into the kingdom of God.^^ The early Chris- 
tians took these words seriously and were minded not to 
lose their souls through selfish devotion to worldly goods. 
Brotherhood meant more to them than selfish possession. 
Human service was better than isolated enjoyment and 
ease. 

They filled the life of their community with the spirit 



EMPHASIS IN CHEISTIANITY 11 

of Jesus — ^^the love that never tires in the endless tasks of 
kindness/^ 

Should we try to reproduce the exact conditions we 
find described in these passages, or is there a better way to 
follow the example of the early church? Have you ever 
seen a Christian community trying as seriously as did this 
early community to practice the social gospel among its 
own members, not to speak of those outside? 

Outstanding Social Movements in Christianity 

1. Throughout the centuries. — The Christian Church 
has always had a social outlook. In its most selfish periods 
it has never entirely forgotten the social message of the 
Great Teacher. Nor has it failed in some measure to prac- 
tice this teaching. There has always been great possibility 
of improvement, and there is to-day. But the centuries 
are filled with social movements that have sought the re- 
demption of humanity. 

Christian missions arose and have been continued in 
response to the command of Jesus to evangelize the whole 
world. And from the first they have sought to redeem 
the whole life of individuals and nations. There has been 
far more narrowness in the thinking of some Christians 
regarding Christian missions than in the inissions them- 
selves. From the apostle Paul to the last young man or 
young woman who went out under the auspices of the Cen- 
tenary movement life has been given for the purpose of 
helping to build a world-order in which Christ shall rule. 

The biography of Dr. W. J. Grenfell reads like a tale 
of adventure. And such it is — an adventure for God and 
mankind. There in Labrador, among the deep-sea fisher 
folk, a new way of life has been established, and it would 
hardly be wide of the truth to say that a new order of 
civilization has been ushered in. And it may be well to 
note in passing that it was when Spurgeon was one night 
urging his hearers to take their religion as the serious con- 
cern of their lives that this noble servant of the cross regis- 
tered his decision that has led to such heroic doing in the 
name of Christ. 

2. Mediaeval times. — Monasticism and the mendicant 



12 SOCIAL KELATIONSHIPS 

orders of the Middle Ages have something to teach us 
concerning the application of Christian principles of serv- 
ice to the world in which we live. 

Benedict of Nursia, born in 480, founded the order that 
bears his name. Prayer, fasting, manual labor, and learn- 
ing were the occupation of the members of this order. 
"The Benedictines were the great road makers of the 
Middle Ages. They cleared away the forests, drained 
dikes and filled in swamps, and reclaimed to fertility val- 
uable lands. They were also the pioneers of agriculture. 
. . . In a turbulent and warlike time they were the 
teachers of the dignity of labor and the fruitful arts of 
peace. The reclaiming of the Eiver Thames to commerce 
and history is a notable instance of the triumph of the 
^Benedictines.^ ^^ 

Francis of Assisi was aroused from his selfish way of 
living by hearing those words of Christ: "And as ye go, 
preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal 
the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out de- 
mons.^^ The members of the order he founded followed 
him in his life of poverty and unrewarded service. With 
his own hands he ministered to the lepers, as did Father 
Damien in a later day. Sabatier says of him, "He went 
not to the whole, who needed no physician, but to the sick, 
the forgotten, the disdained.^^ 

3. The Protestant Reformation.— We do not ordinarily 
think of the Protestant Reformation as primarily a social 
movement. Luther^s chief concern was with the individual. 
Eeligious freedom from the intolerable yoke of ecclesias- 
tical oppression and abuse was his aim. Yet by asserting 
the essential equality of all men before God he was true to 
the principles of social values, which underlie all Christian 
sacrifice and service. If some men are free, while others 
are bound, the kingdom of God cannot come. If some are 
to have privileges that others cannot enjoy, peace and good 
will cannot be permanently established. 

4. Methodist beginnings. — The Wesleyan Eevival is one 
of the outstanding movements of history. John Wesley 
possessed the social vision of the gospel. No man of his 
day surpassed him in this respect; few in any day have 



EMPHASIS IN CHEISTIANITY 13 

gone beyond him. Many of his followers have trailed on 
far behind him in spite of the education and enlightenment 
of later times. 

Wesley always dealt with the individual, but he told 
him that it was unthinkable that he should go to heaven 
alone. Eedemption began in the heart of the believer, but 
it included all human relationships within its purpose. 
Consequently, it is not strange to read that Wesley estab- 
lished the first dispensary in London, that he founded a 
home for the poor, that he organized a system of relief for 
the industrious poor who were being bled by the money 
lenders, that he instituted a Strangers^ Society to minis- 
ter to the friendless. 

The Centenary movement of the present time, in its out- 
reach toward all lands and all kinds and conditions of 
men, is true to the spirit of the founder of our branch of 
the Christian Church. 

The Modeen" Emphasis 

1. The new social emphasis. — In recent years the social 
emphasis of Christianity has been stressed as never before. 
There have been many reasons for this. The mind of the 
Master has been recovered. For many years much of the 
best thought of the church was concerned with controversy 
over debatable intellectual and theological questions. But 
with the development of industrial conditions throughout 
the world and the greater pressure of economic and closely 
allied questions upon all persons a natural shift of interest 
took place. And then, too, with the increase in the facili- 
ties of communication and travel the world became a much 
smaller place. We saw that we were all much more closely 
related to each other than many had supposed. Infected 
rats from foreign countries could be guarded against, but 
it was better to go to the sources of infection and do away 
with them. 

The pouring in through our gates of multitudes of im- 
migrants accentuated the social aspect of the gospel. How 
could we expect to build a nation out of these diverse 
strains and elements unless a Christianizing process as 
well as an Americanizing process was carried on? 



14 SOCIAL EELATIOKSHIPS 

Then came the Great War, and everything in the civil- 
ized world was changed. Men who had been sleeping sud- 
denly woke up to the fact that apart from the principles 
and ideals of Jesus there is no hope for a humane order of 
life. Peace and brotherhood have no chance in the earth 
unless Jesus is Lord. Where grace abounds, sin will much 
more abound unless Jesus is Saviour. Eedemption and 
the fortunes of all men in the future are interlocked. The 
w^hole of human society and the whole of the individual life 
are involved. 

Questions of right and wrong are at stake in all such 
human interests and activities as education, health, amuse- 
ment, housing, and labor conditions. The message of 
Jesus furnishes us with the principles by which our think- 
ing, planning, and action must be guided as we seek for 
the right. If we neglect this message we are sure to go 
wrong. Unfortunately, there are still many persons in 
the world who do not much care about these matters be- 
cause they do not realize how deeply they themselves are 
involved. But that number is diminishing. The social 
gospel is challenging the interest of the keenest minds 
and the warmest hearts throughout the breadth of the 
entire Christian communion. Not to be interested is to 
confess that the procession has moved forward and left 
us behind. To be interested is so far to give evidence of the 
spirit of Jesus. 

2. The fellowship of the churches. — Nearly all the great 
Christian communions have taken a forward-looking atti- 
tude toward the social proclamation of the gospel. 

Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Congregational, Epis- 
copalian, and Eoman Catholic have found a certain meas- 
ure of unity, if not union, in their social creeds and simi- 
lar utterances. 

More than thirty of the larger Christian denominations 
have become aflSliated in the Federal Council of the 
Churches of Christ in America. The platform of this 
Council stands for the fair and fearless application of the 
teachings of Jesus to modern conditions and all human 
relationships. No one class is to be favored above another, 
but a way of life is to be followed which in time shall 



EMPHASIS m CHRISTIANITY 15 

minimize, if not entirely eliminate, class divisions of all 
sorts. No one group is to escape the application of the 
social gospel. Human values are to receive first considera- 
tion. These are even more sacred than property values 
when there is any sharp conflict as between the two. In- 
dustry for service, and not primarily for profit, is the goal 
to be reached. True democracy of the Christian type is 
to permeate all departments and sections of life. The 
kingdom of love and the rule of the King are to prevail 
universally. 

Is this too large a program ? ISTot if all Christian people 
make it theirs, as it was and is their Lord's, as it was and 
is that of the great leaders of our holy religion in all 
past centuries and in the present. 

Questions for Discussio:Nr 

1. Why does Isaiah condemn religious assemblies and 
ceremonies ? 

2. What should be the effect of worship upon the indi- 
vidual and upon society through the individual ? 

3. Do you know of an instance of the application of the 
Golden Eule on a fairly wide scale? What was the re- 
sult? 

4. How may church members show their concern for the 
welfare of each other? 

5. Should organized Christianity or should other social 
agencies undertake to-day such work as the church in the 
Middle Ages did? 

6. Are Christian people generally becoming more socially 
minded ? 

7. What is your church doing to help the fuller coming 
of the kingdom of God in the earth? 



CHAPTEE II 

THE CHRISTIAN AND PUBLIC EDUCATION 

For reference and study: Deut. 6. 6-9; Prov. 1. 1-6; 
3. 13-26; Matt. 28. 18-20; Luke 1. 1-4; 2. 52; Acts 7. 22; 
10, 1-35; 17. 16-34. 

Education in the Progeam of Jesus 

1* Jesus as a teacher. — To say that Jesus had a program 
of public education such as that of the school board of 
your town would be wide of the mark. Indeed, we must 
always be careful how we use the word "program^^ in 
connection with the life and ministry of Jesus. But Jesus 
did want the minds of the people to be enlightened. He 
taught the men of his time and the men of all time some 
of the deepest truths ever proclaimed. 

Luke says of Jesus that ^%e grew in wisdom.^' And 
this must mean that Jesus learned just as all others have 
learned — by study, by observation, by contact with the 
world of human life, by communion with God. That Jesus 
attended the synagogue school or that he ever received for- 
mal instruction, we do not know; but we do know that his 
mother was deeply instructed in the Hebrew Scriptures, 
that she was in the habit of pondering the deep things of 
God in her own heart. We may be sure that Jesus learned 
many a great truth from her before he came to the period 
of his own later and independent development. 

A title often used by the disciples in addressing Jesus 
was ^^Teacher.^^ This indicates that they regarded them- 
selves as learners and that they looked upon him not only 
as concerned for their instruction but as giving them in- 
struction in the wisdom he himself possessed. For the 
most part they were untutored men — ^ignorant men, we 
should say, — so far as schools and books are concerned. 
But their minds were prepared for the great truths im- 
planted by Jesus. They were learners in his school — the 

16 



PUBLIC EDUCATION 17 

school of the inner life. They learned so well that as his 
representatives they have been instructing men ever since, 

2. The great commission. — Matt. 28. 18-20 is a very in- 
structive passage. There Jesus commands his disciples to 
go into all the world to make other disciples, to baptize 
them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 
and to teach them to observe all things according to his 
commands. 

This clearly indicates two things: that Jesus desired 
an instructed following among men and women and that 
he expected his disciples to take upon themselves a meas- 
ure of responsibility for the education of the people. Ig- 
norance has no place in the program of Jesus. His gos- 
pel will stand all the light there is. Faith and devotion 
are based upon knowledge. 

This command still stands. The Christian must be con- 
cerned with education — ^his own and that of other persons. 

A man was once heard to remark that education was a 
purely secular affair, that the church had no concern with 
it, and that an educated ministry would mark the decline 
of the ministry. Does such a position rightly interpret the 
mind of Christ? 

3* The prologue of Luke. — In opening his Gospel and 
in dedicating it to Theophilus, Luke declares that he writes 
in order that his friend may Icnow the certainty of the 
things wherein he has been instructed. 

An educational purpose stands at the forefront of this 
gospel. In this Luke is true to the mind of Jesus. 

From such a beginning the interest of the Christian 
Church in education has developed. Ignorance and illiter- 
acy are the enemies of a pure faith. The schoolhouse and 
college, as well as the church, are sacred. And Christians 
have been following the purpose of Jesus in organizing 
centers of instruction for the people in all lands. Do 
you know how many of the foremost educational institu- 
tions of America were founded either by ministers or by 
the church? 

Public Education" and Public Welfare 
1. The hope of democracy. — We do not always realize 



18 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

how closely public welfare and public education are bound 
together. 

In a recent striking article a Chinese scholar denies 
this. He affirms that the public should not be taught, 
that only those of exceptional intellectual gifts should have 
the opportunities of education. This is at sharp variance 
with the Christian view. It is opposed to the method 
and purpose of Jesus. 

If the view of this Chinese scholar were to prevail, what 
hope would there be of the continuance and development 
of democracy? Of course he is not interested in that 
sort of a development, for he probably thinks that nothing 
worse could happen than to see a real democracy estab- 
lished here or anywhere else. To us as Christians "de- 
mocracy^^ and "the kingdom of God in the earth^^ are 
almost interchangeable terms. 

In a democracy each citizen must bear his part. Com- 
mon responsibilities are to be shared. Intelligent under- 
standing of the issues and intelligent cooperation in meet- 
ing them are essential. Ignorance saps the strength of the 
foundations of a democratic order. 

In such countries as China and Mexico the progress of 
democracy is retarded by the great mass of illiteracy that 
overspreads these lands. In spite of leaders who have their 
faces toward the light the rank and file are still under 
the power of superstition and tradition. To obey the com- 
mand of Jesus means to build schools and send teachers 
among such peoples, that they may know the truth that 
makes men free. 

2. Necessary to efficiency. — The efficient man is he who 
knows how to do some piece of work necessary to the carry- 
ing on of civilization. Our country is blessed with an 
abundance of natural resources. These cannot be utilized 
for the good of all of us except as trained intelligence is 
applied to their development. Factories must be built, 
machinery must be invented, scientific processes must be 
employed. Ignorance means waste and underproduction. 
Education of the right sort means the utilization of the 
vast stores of possible good for the blessing of mankind. 

The telephone, the telegraph, the automobile, the air- 



PUBLIC EDUCATION 19 

plane, are the forerunners of an expanding civilization. 
The head of a great industry, employing thousands of men, 
recently remarked that the elimination of the telephone 
would make it necessary to close the plant. 

Education for efficiency and then efficiency in the use of 
knowledge are indispensable. 

3. Preparation for service. — Ignorance is the enemy of 
the highest type of service. There are persons in the world 
whose impulses are of the best. The sad fact is they 
do not know enough to be able to express themselves in 
ways productive of the most good to themselves and to 
others. Selfishness is not to be explained on the ground 
of ignorance, but ignorance is a strong ally. Acts 7. 22 
helps to explain why Moses could play such a great part in 
leading his people toward their wider destiny. 

4. Eelation to character. — A man may be an educated 
rascal, and his rascality will be all the more harmful. 
Probably many men behind the bars of our prisons are 
well educated. Not long ago the writer received a letter 
from such a man in which he requested that copies of lit- 
erary works of highest merit be sent to him. Oscar Wilde 
is a case in point. But it is nevertheless true that educa- 
tion of the right type is a high incentive to noble charac- 
ter and that it outlines the features of the strongest and 
most useful life. Something more than education is re- 
quired to make a Christian, but an educated Christian is 
worth more to the world than one of equal intelligence but 
uneducated. Paul, from the University of Tarsus, was 
used of God as he never could have been had he been a 
man of equally devoted purpose but with an untrained 
mind. 

Ignorance is the enemy of social progress. A program 
of moral reform cannot be successfully carried out unless 
the people are sufficiently educated to understand and value 
its meaning. The vicious elements in society prey upon 
the ignorant and find in them their dupes and tools. Al- 
though moral enlightenment and education, as the term 
is ordinarly used, are not the same, there is a close rela- 
tionship between them. Social improvement, moral pro- 
gress, the advancement of ideals, the growth of true reli- 



20 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

gion, are all retarded by ignorance and greatly accelerated 
by genuine education. 

Some Essential Pactoes 

1. Community interest. — Public education is the con- 
cern of the entire community. If the people are interested 
in this question, if they give it the same consideration 
they give to health and amusement questions, progress is 
certain to be made. There must be a thoroughly awakened 
and intelligent public spirit. 

In one city it was proposed to build a new stadium in 
an athletic field connected with one of the schools. The 
pupils were aroused. The citizens were fired with inter- 
est. A representative committee was appointed. A large 
sum of money was almost immediately subscribed. The 
plan was carried through. This shows what can easily be 
done when public spirit is aroused in connection with a 
minor although important matter. Would there have been 
the same interest in something less directly associated with 
popular athletics? Let us hope so. At any rate public 
education is not likely to rise higher in any community 
than the public spirit of the citizens carries it. 

If the men and women are more interested in the 
^^movies'* than in the conduct of the schools, if the ^^screen 
star^' who happens to be holding the center of the stage is 
thought to be a more important person than the superin- 
tendent of public education, there is something wrong. 

In a certain semisuburban community it took years to 
bring the men and women to vote for a new high-school 
building. Many said: "We got our education in the old 
building. It is good enough for the boys and girls to-day .^^ 
In that same community the success of the local baseball 
nine was a matter of great pride. The standing of the 
town was very generally thought to hinge upon the success 
of that team in its contests with the teams from sur- 
rounding towns. If the same public spirit could have 
been shown toward education as was shown toward base- 
ball, it would have been better for all concerned, and, quite 
possibly, a better baseball team might have been shortly 



PUBLIC EDUCATION 21 

organized; for a trained mind is not a liability in a base- 
ball player. 

2. Adequate equipment. — The buildings and equipment 
should be the best the community can possibly afford. 
As soon as there is need for personal economy, some cut 
off the subscription to the church. The need for com- 
munity economy sometimes leads the authorities to cut 
down the money spent on the schools and their upkeep. 
In both instances such economy is very costly. On a purely 
commercial basis dollars and cents cannot be better in- 
vested. 

There has been a distinct advance throughout our coun- 
try in this respect. Good buildings and adequate equip- 
ment are the order of the new day; yet much remains to 
be desired. Men who live in good homes and who insist 
that their offices and factories shall be up to the minute in 
the matter of equipment are sometimes inclined to take a 
less progressive view of the needs of the schools. 

3. Teaching as a vocation. — Those who teach should be 
men and women who regard their tasks in the light of a 
divine vocation. A young woman who was taking the 
normal course for teachers was heard to remark that 
teaching was about as respectable and easy a way of mak- 
ing a living as she knew. If that viewpoint were general, 
the work of the schools would deteriorate, and the general 
level of intelligence would rise very slowly if at all. A 
public-school principal, a man who might have made a 
success as a business man, declared that he gave himself 
to his work just as a minister enters the service of the 
church. 

The very large turn-over in the ranks of the teachers 
would seem to indicate that many do not regard teaching 
as the noble vocation that it really is. Which view seems 
to prevail in your community ? Is teaching Just a way to 
make a living — one way among many? Is teaching a vo- 
cation to which a person gives himself for the good of 
those he teaches and for the good of the commonwealth? 
Is teaching a business? Is teaching a calling? 

No one who is not a person of high moral and spiritual 
standards should be permitted to teach in our public 



23 SOCIAL KELATIONSHIPS 

schools. A person without any high ideals may be able to 
teach the multiplication table, but even that simple duty 
will be performed better by the person with ideals. There 
is no such book as a Christian history or a Christian scien- 
tific treatise, but only a person of Christian standards is 
fit to teach and interpret either history or science to the 
developing mind of the oncoming generation. 

Individual initiative should mark the members of the 
teaching force if the best results are to be secured. The 
goose step may have served the purpose of the German 
army on its way to overwhelming catastrophe, but there is 
something better than standardization and systemization 
that crush all the initiative put of the teachers and the 
taught. In the former days more frequently than now the 
children in an orphanage dressed just alike, with hair 
cut and combed just alike, and, treated just alike in all 
matters of discipline, were really pitiable little objects, 
however good the intentions of those responsible for the 
system may have been. Teachers and pupils as much alike 
as peas in a pod are not the finest product of our school 
system. Personality, individuality trained toward high 
ideals and productive services, this is one of the greatest 
needs of the time. 

: 4. Ideals of the pupils. — The boys and girls themselves 
are essential factors in this process. They may not fully 
^realize it, but the schools are conducted for them. Vast 
sums of money are spent, the buildings are erected, the 
teachers are engaged, the curriculum is arranged, all with 
the purpose of giving them a chance to become educated 
citizens of our great republic. How will they meet this 
opportunity ? If plays, dances, athletics, and social affairs 
take the first place in their thought, they are not taking 
the attitude the community has a right to expect them to 
take. ^^AU work and no play^^ — ^yes, we all admit what 
that implies. But turn the old saying around and con- 
sider what happens when it is all play and no work. 

An educator of high standing recently gave it as his 
opinion that the boys and girls of the student body under 
lus observation were never more devoted to the real business 
of the school period. If this holds true generally, it argues 



PUBLIC EDUCATION 23 

well for the future of our country and for the kingdom 
of Christ in the world. 

What Can the Christian Do? 

1. Individual initiative. — The Christian can exert his 
influence on the side of every attempt to elevate the stand- 
ards of education in his community; initiate something 
or heartily second something that seeks the spread of intel- 
ligence among all the people. 

Lecture courses of the right sort are popular. Intellec- 
tual stimulus is welcomed by many who do not seem to 
have any particular interest in the larger questions of the 
day. One city church prepared a lecture-course and sold 
tickets at a price just large enough to cover the cost. A few 
interested persons agreed to stand by in case of a deficit. 
The course paid its own way, and the mental life of many 
who would have felt little of that kind of influence was 
broadened and quickened. 

2. Guard the schools. — The system of public education 
should be guarded from every sort of hurtful political or 
sectarian influence. In many communities there are in- 
fluences at work which will seriously cripple — ^if, indeed, 
they do not eventually undermine — the best work of the 
schools. Sectarianism in any form, whether it be of the 
Protestant or the Eoman Catholic type, should be ban- 
ished. If there are politicians who, by means of under- 
ground methods, are seeking to gain control either of the 
local or the national system of education for either in- 
dividual or party purposes, they should be resisted by an 
enlightened public opinion and by the most drastic meas- 
ures to be devised by that opinion. 

On the other hand, there are many forces at work in our 
communities which seek to draw all people together in 
their support of education. These should be heartily sec- 
onded by the Christian citizen. Divisive forces are to 
be resisted, but the forces that draw men together in the 
unity of a fine community purpose are to be conserved and 
used to the full extent of their power. 

Democracy of the Christian type is dependent on the 
intelligent loyalty and purposeful service of our citizens* 



24 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

Any influence that prevents the system of public educa- 
tion from making its full contribution to the development 
of the present and future citizens of the land is working 
against all that we hold dear. The Christian has a fine 
opportunity to second and support every attempt to make 
the system realize its own highest ideals. 

3. Keligious education. — To-day as never before the 
Christian has the opportunity of stressing the value of 
religious education. Eeligious education is very different 
from training in sectarian doctrine and practice. It is 
chiefly concerned with the development of the minds and 
Jiearts of the younger generation toward God and all the 
real things of the world of the spirit. The schools and 
colleges may be much more closely related to the churches 
and the church schools than is the case to-day. These 
agencies are complementary. The day school or the col- 
lege has its own definite task, so has the church school. 
Without in any way infringing the principle of the sep- 
aration of state and church there is a great opportunity 
for cooperative effort in the field of education, which all 
right-thinking citizens — Protestant, Jew, and Catholic — 
will support. The superintendents of three of the large 
schools in an Eastern city were recently invited to come 
before the congregation of an influential church and tell 
the people how, in their judgment, church and school could 
the better cooperate in the community task of public edu- 
cation. Such meetings might well be multiplied through- 
out the country. They help to form public opinion of the 
right sort. They are the forerunners of cooperative effort. 

Questions tor Discussion 

1. Are we better Christians and better citizens if we are 
trained in the truths our fathers have followed and cher- 
ished ? 

2. In what respect is the condition of the man in- 
structed in the wisdom of the past more favorable than 
that of the uninstructed ? 

3. Why do not men generally value wisdom as highly 
as the writers of the wisdom books of the Old Testament? 



PUBLIC EDUCATION 25 

4. What chance is there of building the kingdom of 
Christ if Christ^s command to teach all people is neglected ? 

5. Find some of the qualities of the true teacher in the 
incident of Acts 10. 1-35. 

6. What is the ideal of Christian education ? 

7. What contribution to religious education is being 
made by your school ? 



CHAPTEE III 

THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WAGE PROBLEM 

For reference and study : Deut. 24. 14-15 ; Jer. 22. 13- 
17; Matt. 7. 12; 20. 1-15; Luke 10. 7; Eph. 4. 31-32; 
6. 5-9; Col. 4. 1; Philemon 8-20; James 5. 1-4. 

How TO Measuke the Value of Labor 

1. Valuation of life. — Jesus lived in a time when society 
was not organized as it is to-day. Men lived in the open. 
There were no great cities in Palestine, with their con- 
gested districts and crowded tenements. There were no 
slums and no fine residence districts as far removed as 
possible from the haunts of wretchedness and vice, such as 
we know to-day. Agriculture and the raising of sheep, 
cattle, and other livestock were the chief occupations of the 
men of his time, and such work as was done in the large 
towns was done chiefly in the homes of the people, and not 
in large shops and factories. 

Jesus placed the first value upon life. Human life was 
of supreme value in the thought of God. And we may be 
sure that if he were among us to-day, living and teach- 
ing in such conditions as we know, his emphasis would 
be the same: it would fall upon men rather than upon 
things and dollars. He one day said to his hearers, "How 
much better is a man than a sheep V^ That was a standard 
of comparison that had meaning to those who heard him. 
To-day he would say, "How much better is a man than a 
shop or an office, a railroad or a mine V^ Always he would 
think first of men, women, and children. 

We must remember this when we come to measure the 
value of labor. We must first get our eyes on the man 
or the woman or the child who is doing the work instead 
of first considering the work the person happens to be per- 
forming. We must have in mind the idea that human 

26 



THE WAGE FEOBLEM 27 

values come first before we try to think of how much a 
given service is worth. The service may be very import- 
ant, like that of directing a great industrial enterprise, 
or it may be very humble, like that of sweeping a street; 
but a human being is performing it, and we must think 
of his value to God and to society and to himself and his 
family before we try to fix finally upon the value of the 
work he is doing. 

2. Essential service.— We must also consider how so- 
cially useful or even necessary the work is. There are some 
forms of labor without which society could not go for- 
ward from day to day. We who live in cities would starve 
to death if it were not for the men and women on the 
farms who raise the food we eat. If there were no means 
of transportation by which to ship the food to us, if there 
were no system of exchange by which we might come into 
possession of it, we should be helpless. On the other hand, 
life for those on the ranches and farms in the remote sec- 
tions of the land would be sadly impoverished if it were not 
for the automobiles, the telephones, the victrolas, the news- 
papers, and a thousand other things that circulate freely 
to-day throughout the country. How essential the service 
of the physician in time of sickness ! What an important 
contribution to human well-being the teacher and the edi- 
tor make ! 

Some forms of service do not seem to be so essential to 
the carrying on of life. Often these are more highly re- 
warded than labor that is far more essential. And what- 
ever we may think of these less useful forms of work we 
must be fair and just enough to make it our aim to place 
upon every essential form of human service its full value. 
We must not be blinded by the more showy services and 
think less highly than we should of those who are doing 
very important but oftentimes menial work in human 
society. 

N^otice how Paul, in his letter to Philemon, emphasizes 
this point. How highly he speaks of the slave Onesimus! 
He greatly values what this otherwise unnoticed man had 
done for him and he sends him back to his master with a 
letter filled with the spirit of Christian love. He urges 



28 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

Philemon to receive him no longer as a mere bondservant 
but as a brother beloved. 

3. Labor values. — In fixing the value of labor we must 
think of the work and of its service to society and we 
must also consider the social relationship within which the 
worker lives. If he is the father of a family he has a 
right to the chance to make good as the support of those 
dependent upon him. The Christian will be interested to 
see tliat such conditions do not obtain as make it neces- 
sary for the wife and mother to go to work to help eke out 
a living for the family. The children will have their 
chance at an education before they become recruits within 
the ranks of the workers. 

Social workers are frequently face to face with condi- 
tions in which, try as a worker may, he cannot earn 
enough to support himself and his family. Eecent years 
have marked improvement in these respects, and a good 
deal of the improvement has been due to the activity of 
Christian men and women of social conscience. Much 
remains to be done. 

It is evident that it is not a simple matter to measure 
the value of labor. No one man is able to do this. No 
one group of men can do this. The question is at bottom 
a social question, and we are all involved. 

The Living Wage and Profit Sharing 

1. Living-wage plan. — The plan is an attempt to fix 
a standard below which the wages in a given industry 
shall not fall. For several years the government has 
been investigating living conditions in different communi- 
ties, and has endeavored to find out how much money a 
person must receive in return for honest work if he is to 
be able to buy the necessaries of life for himself and those 
dependent on him. A number of independent inquiries of 
this same sort have been carried on. To-day it is possible 
for you to find out about how much of an income a person 
must have if he is to maintain an American standard of 
life in your community. Here is a subject which you may 
be interested to investigate. 



THE WAGE PROBLEM 29 

We all know that to live in a good home, to eat good 
food, to v/ear suitable clothing, to enjoy some of the privi- 
leges of intellectual and spiritual growth and of recreation, 
to be able to contribute toward good enterprises, requires 
money. 

If we have never had to earn any of it for ourselves, this 
lesson may not yet have been strongly impressed upon us. 
But the vast majority of persons do have to earn it for 
themselves or go without it. And we are all learning that 
we cannot afford to have persons living in our communities 
who cannot meet the requirements of the standard of life. 
Unless the community prevents that sort of thing, the 
level of the life of all of us is lowered. 

Perhaps the living-wage plan is not so modern as it 
seems. Study Matt. 20. 1-15 and see if you do not find the 
principles that underlie such a plan. Equal pay for 
unequal labor is not the fact to fasten your attention upon 
so much as the other fact that no man was allowed to 
receive less than a fixed return for his labor. 

2. Profit sharing. — This is another attempt to reach 
equity in distributing the earnings of men working to- 
gether at a common task. Employers and investors have 
recognized the fact that if it were not for the skill and 
energy of the manual workers there would be no profits. 
Organizing talent is necessary, managerial ability is re- 
quired, and so is the labor of the men and women who 
work with their hands. Examine 1 Cor. 13 for a clear 
statement of some underlying principles. 

All those who work together to win prosperity should 
share in that prosperity, and with as much equity as 
possible. 

The captain on the bridge of an ocean liner is essential 
to the safety and comfort of the passengers, but so is the 
stoker. And there has been a growing tendency in the in- 
dustrial world to give every worker his due. Brains are 
necessary, but so is brawn. Indeed, it is a superficial mis- 
take to draw any sharp distinction between them when both 
are required if progress, prosperity, and a more Christian 
social order are to be achieved. 

We must not overdraw the picture. Some employers and 



30 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

shareholders resist every such plan as those sketched. They 
are still engaged in the process described by the prophet 
Jeremiah (22. 13-17). We must not think that without 
vigilance and continuous effort on the part of all right- 
thinking persons social justice will be done. But it is 
good to be able to say that the majority of industrial 
leaders are faced in the direction of principles and plans 
that contemplate a more equitable distribution of human 
wealth. 

The Christian Workman and the Labor Union 

1. The labor union. — Manual workers have attempted to 
solve the knotty problems of our industrial order by the 
formation of labor unions. These have gathered together 
the workers of a given occupation and in common action 
have formulated the principles and the rules according to 
which a trade is to be governed. The living- wage and 
the profit-sharing plans have usually arisen outside the 
ranks of the manual workers. Sometimes these schemes 
have had the approval, sometimes the disapproval of the 
workers. The labor union is the creation of the manual 
workers. Its rise and development in England and Amer- 
ica constitute a most instructive chapter in the economic 
progress of two great nations. 

That labor has the right to organize is to-day generally 
conceded. Fair-minded men claim that employers have a 
right to organize, that stockholders and consumers have a 
right to organize. They accord this same right to manual 
workers. But in every instance the organization must 
work toward the common good. The test of its righteous- 
ness and usefulness is found here. 

2. Christian leadership. — Many Christian workmen are 
members of the labor unions. In England for many years 
some of the chief leaders in the ranks of labor have been 
devoted members of the Christian Church. Arthur Hen- 
derson, a local preacher of the Wesleyan Church, is an 
example. In this country we have had no such conspicu- 
ous figure as he, but many Christian workers have exerted 
a deep influence upon the labor movement. 



THE WAGE PEOBLEM 31 

In the nnion the Christian workingman has a strategic 
position. He may interpret the spirit and purpose of the 
Christian Church to the workers outside the influence and 
membership of any Christian group. For a long time in 
one of our important industrial cities a highly influential 
publication of organized labor was largely molded as to 
its policy and program by a man of fine Christian char- 
acter. 

The Christian member of the labor union has the oppor- 
tunity of interpreting the spirit and purpose of labor to 
those within the church who gain most of their informa- 
tion from somewhat inadequate sources. A Christian 
labor leader one day spoke to a group of Christian citizens 
and by the breadth and fairness of his utterances exerted 
a great influence, making for understanding and concilia- 
tion throughout a wide territory. 

His influence will work in both directions. Sometimes 
the labor organization stands for a wrong policy. We had 
an example of that a few years ago in the city of Boston, 
when the policemen went on strike and left the city open to 
the attacks of ruffians and rowdies. 

Sometimes those not members of the ranks of the man- 
ual workers stand for wrong views, as, for example, in 
some of the bitter condemnation of the workingmen re- 
cently heard on account of their unusually high wage 
demands, when this criticism has failed to take into account 
the greatly increased cost of housing and of the basic 
necessities of life. 

The Christian workman will stand for justice and fair- 
ness in his union and for the same principles in his church. 
He will not permit his own conscience to be stifled nor will 
he be a party to any policy or opinion that tends to lower 
human ideals. 

3. The Christian in the ranks. — The Christian work- 
man will give a fair day^s work for a fair return and will 
use his influence in favor of such a policy in all the coun- 
cils of his trade. He knows that the question of production 
is prior to that of wages, hours, and distribution of the 
product. He knows that the man who scamps his job, the 
man who fails to keep the machinery of production going 



3Z SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

forward at normal speed, is not contributing to his own 
welfare nor to the welfare of anyone else. 

He will recognize the place and power of religion in the 
labor movement. In September, 1919, an International 
Conference on Labor and Eeligion was held in Browning 
Hall, London. The records of that Conference are prof- 
itable reading to all who believe that the fundamental 
principles of Christianity must be reckoned with in any 
attempt to work out a thoroughly Christian social order 
in the earth. 

The Solution of the Peoblem 

1. The Christian solution. — ^We must be careful how we 
speak of the solution of any great human problem. As 
conditions of life change, and the world moves onward, 
the old-time problem reappears, although its form and 
garb may be new. But a question may find a solution, good 
for all time, so far as it goes — a solution that will pre- 
vent certain features of the problem from reappearing, 
and which will help those who come after us to move in 
the direction of greater human good. 

Speaking in this sense, we may say that there is a 
Christian solution of the labor problem. The principles 
and purposes of Jesus Christ give us the only sure and 
enduring basis of a real solution. 

If men and women can be brought to see this so that 
the words mean something more to them than words, a 
great step forward will be taken. 

Do you know any persons who still think that religion 
has nothing to do with such matters ? Do you know any 
good Christian people who say, "Better not mix up our 
Christian preaching and teaching with these questions^^ ? 

The Christian Church, the church school, all the edu- 
cational agencies of the church, have no greater obliga- 
tion and opportunity today than to teach with full con- 
viction that there is a Christian solution for the problems 
that vex the world. If the young men and women of the 
coming generation can be sent out into life with this 
conviction deeply fixed in their minds, future years will 



THE WAGE PEOBLEM 33 

record a marvelous progress in establishing the rule of 
God in the earth. 

2. Fundamental principles. — These are some of the 
principles that point the way toward the Christian solu- 
tion : 

(a) Human values have first place. The employer who 
conducts his business upon the assumption that it is his 
chief aim to make goods or profits^, or to make anything 
else than better men and a better order of society, is dis- 
regarding a fundamental principle of the religion of Jesus. 
The manual worker who thinks it his first business to 
secure a satisfactory arrangement as to wages and hours, 
without much regard as to what he is obligated to give 
in return, is equally guilty of overlooking primary prin- 
ciples. 

The story is told of a slave who came north by the 
^^underground railway .^^ He was being questioned by a 
judge in the town to which he had escaped. He told the 
judge that his former master gave him good food and 
clothes and shelter. The judge expressed his surprise that 
the slave should have run away. The black man told the 
judge that the place was still vacant, and that undoubtedly 
he could get it if he applied. Pood, clothes, dividends, 
profits, wages, hours, are all important, but all less im- 
portant than the men, women, and children involved in the 
process of producing them and made or broken by that 
process. 

(&) The giving rather than the getting instincts of our 
natures are to have their superiority acknowledged. Serv- 
ice, although a badly worn word, is still the keyword in 
all industrial and professional activities. To create some- 
thing or to help create something that adds to the true 
wealth of life — a picture, a poem, an airship, a railroad, 
a house — is of far greater importance than to seize all 
that the hands will hold and defend it against all contest- 
ants. An officer of the American army related that in 
Armenia a starving child, when she received her potato 
and little cup of cocoa, rushed out of the bread line and 
away to an older brother, too weak and emaciated to stand 
in the line himself, to share with him her pitiful allow- 



34 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

ance. The world of industry, in all its departments of 
organization and operation, needs to absorb the truth in 
the words of Jesus: "I came not to be ministered to, but 
to minister/' 

Scientists, physicians, teachers, social workers, have gen- 
erally adopted the principle of service for their own lives. 
They are ordinary human beings like the rest of us, but 
they have an unusual outlook upon the real things of life. 
Why should not all who contribute in any way to the well- 
being of the world follow their example? The shop, the 
office, the factory, offer just as fine an opportunity for 
self-giving. A recent writer has called attention to the 
fact that while we have called a man a "soldier of the 
Lord'' we have never named a man a "banker of the 
Lord"; but why not? 

(c) Every person must lead a productive life. The 
physically and mentally disqualified are the only excep- 
tions. To every other person the talent has been given. 
Society has a right to demand that it be employed, and in 
such a way as to add to the well-being of all. 

The idle rich and the idle poor have no place in a 
Christian order of things. The coming of the Kingdom is 
delayed by every person who lives an unproductive life. 

{d) Cooperation, rather than ruthless competition and 
destructive conflict, is the organizing principle upon which 
the progress of the human order depends. A football team 
teaches us that the right sort of competition may take 
place on the basis of cooperation. To fight for the good 
things of life as men contend for the spoils of battle is to 
pervert a worthy instinct, which, if put to work in the 
realm of the ideal, will prove to have enormous creative 
power. 

Questions for Discussion 

1. Cite instances of the interest of both Old and New 
Testament writers in such subjects as the heading of this 
chapter. 

2. Give some of the reasons why men do not always 
place as high a value upon human life as Jesus did. 



THE WAGE PROBLEM 35 

3. How do the principles declared by Paul tend to 
eliminate slavery, in all its phases, from society? 

4. Can you find an instance of the application of the 
principle of the living wage or of profit sharing ? Describe 
the result. 

5. Does any other institution than the church so unself- 
ishly proclaim the principle of the "square deaP^ for all ? 

6. Has the war lowered or heigthened our ideas of hu- 
man values ? 

7. If all parties concerned are not willing to share in 
self-sacrifice, how can right ideals be applied to the wage 
problem ? 



CHAPTEE IV 

THE CHEISTIAN AND WOEKING CONDITIONS 

For reference and study: Exod. 5. 1-31; Deut. 15. 1-18; 
Matt. 11. 28-30; 25. 14-30; Eph. 6. 5-8; Phil. 2. 1-4; 
Col. 3. 22-25. 

The New Emphasis Upon Envieonment 

1. Influence of environment. — We are all greatly influ- 
enced by our surroundings. If we live in a pleasant neigh- 
borhood^ among pleasant people, in a comfortable home up 
to the standard of modern requirements, we have a much 
better chance in life than if conditions are the opposite. 
If we work in clean, well-lighted, well- ventilated surround- 
ings, we are likely to be better workers and to do better 
work than in less favorable conditions. Our environ- 
ment, whatever it may be, has a profound influence upon 
our character and upon the output of our lives. It influ- 
ences our viewpoint. 

History abounds in examples of those who have risen 
above their environment to a noble plane of living; but 
this does not alter the fact that the average person is 
very largely determined by his surroundings. 

This principle appKes to the working world, and es- 
pecially to working conditions. Sweatshops such as ex- 
isted in our leading cities until very recently, living quar- 
ters in the slums in which great numbers of workers were 
crowded together, factories without any provision for sani- 
tary needs, destroyed men and women even though they 
poured forth their contributions to the wealth of the 
world. 

When the workers themselves began to be considered 
with more Christian thought, some of the worst of these 
conditions were corrected. It was the desire to give the 
workers a chance to live normal lives quite as much as 
the desire to improve the quality and increase the quantity 

36 



WOEKING CONDITIONS 37 

of their product that led to many of the changes for the 
better. 

2, Working conditions. — To-day it is possible to visit 
great industrial plants where the working conditions are 
all that could be desired. The ejffect of such environment 
upon the workers is very marked. A recent investigation 
showed that two great factories in which marked attention 
had been given to the working conditions had set a new 
standard in efficiency and productiveness. This result 
was largely due to the improved morale of the workers 
brought about by improved conditions. 

Look up, in your own community, the shop or factory 
that stands out as a conspicuous example of the best work« 
ing conditions. Visit that factory. Then visit a factory of 
the opposite kind, if you are so unfortunate as to be able 
to find one in your community, and then ask yourself 
where the Christian character, where Christian ideals, 
would have the better chance. Consider the effect of con- 
ditions upon the output. 

In Exod. 5. 1-21 we have a picture of intolerable working 
conditions. Autocratic demands were made upon defense- 
less men and women. God raised up a great leader to lead 
his people from bondage into freedom. Did Pharaoh^s 
cruel treatment of the Hebrews have anything to do with 
God^s righteous judgment upon him? Does the moral 
order of the world include industry and industrial condi- 
tions, and will God vindicate this order? 

Some Effects of Working Conditions 

1. Social effects.— Working conditions affect not only 
the workers but all the members of society. The most 
direct effect is of course upon the workers themselves. A 
social worker one day found a young boy who deliberately 
committed a minor crime in order that he might be com- 
mitted to the reformatory, because, as he said, conditions 
there were so much better than the only ones he knew else- 
where. Truly a mistaken judgment, but one perfectly nat- 
ural in that particular case. In another instance a group 
of philanthropic persons was raising a sum of money for a 
man broken by his working conditions. The burden of his 



38 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

support fell back upon right-minded persons. Attention to 
conditions on the part of right-minded employers would 
have prevented the situation from developing. 

On the other hand, in one of the great industrial plants 
of the Middle West a young man who had risen from an 
obscure place to one of great trust in the production de- 
partment of the business told how the excellent working 
conditions had been one of his strongest incentives to be 
and to do his best. The managers of that plant in that one 
instance have reaped a dividend abundantly justifying their 
expenditure, not to speak of the higher ends served by their 
Christian policy. 

2. Moral effects. — Good and bad working conditions 
have a decided moral effect upon both the workers and 
society. Men and women cannot live and work without 
ideals any more than they can exist without bread. What 
sort of ideals can be maintained in foul, depressing condi- 
tions? Bodily fiber is weakened and moral powers are 
sapped. Good conditions tend to elevate the ideals of life. 
Much of the soap-box oratory in New York City, with its 
protest against the existing order of society, is the revolt 
of souls starved to death in conditions falling far below 
the level of human, not to say Christian standards. Men 
cannot work in cheerless quarters, in stifling atmosphere, 
for a bare subsistence, without turning against those whom 
they hold to be responsible. 

But the other side of the picture presents a marked 
contrast. Working within good conditions, a large group 
of unskilled workmen recently gathered at the noon hour 
to listen to an address of deep moral and religious import. 
Their leader was a man high in the management of the 
concern. Eight conditions had helped to establish right 
relations between those at the bottom and those at the top 
of the process. The great wheels of industry stopped for 
the voice of song and prayer. 

3. Influence upon home life. — Working conditions have 
a strong influence upon the home life of the workers. Here 
too the influence by no means stops with the workers. 
Nothing affects society for good or ill more profoundly 
than the home life of the people. Think of the number 



WOEKmG CONDITIONS 39 

of hours spent by the average worker at his task. In com- 
parison his waking hours in his home are few. If he 
returns after a long day^s work enfeebled in body and 
broken in spirit by devitalizing surroundings, what inter- 
est and strength will remain for the building up of the 
kind of home life essential to the welfare of the republic? 
Cleanliness, order, wholesome working conditions, will 
carry over into the life of the home by an unconscious 
process. All social workers will testify to the direct influ- 
ence of good or bad working conditions upon the family 
life of our cities and industrial commimities. 

4. The pric« of inhuman conditions. — Crime, disease, de- 
pendency, are a part of the toll paid by the workers and 
eventually by society for the privilege of maintaining inhu- 
man working conditions. The entire bill cannot be charged 
to this cause, but the proportion is so large that thinking 
persons may well ask themselves how long such conditions 
are to be tolerated in any civilized community. An influ- 
ential writer recently declared that the need of America 
just now is that a policy of ^'^enlightened selfishness^^ be 
put into operation. It is rather late in the day for that 
kind of talk. But what the writer undoubtedlv meant was 
that the time had come for society to consider the effect 
upon all the men, women, and children of any practice it 
follows, any policy it adopts. 

As the charges of industry are eventually passed on to 
the consumer, would it not be better for us to pay the costs 
of wholesome working conditions and pay less for the 
upkeep of jails, hospitals, and almshouses? Looked at as 
a purely economic question, would not this be preferable? 

The kind of mutual cooperation and understanding set 
forth in Eph. 6. 5-8 will be greatly accelerated by giving 
due attention to the conditions of labor. The worker is to 
give an honest service, and the man in the position of 
greater authority is to treat all those under him with the 
consideration due those for whom Christ died. 

The Christian Attitude Towakd Working Conditions 

1. Christian concern. — From the first the teaching of 
Jesus has caused men and women to take an interest in 



40 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

matters that did not directly affect themselves. Paul was 
not a slave, yet he took a deep interest in the welfare of 
Onesimus, who was a slave, and wrote to Philemon regard- 
ing his welfare. John Wesley was not unable to secure 
medical advice and attendance if he needed it, but his con- 
cern for the poor led him to open the first dispensary in 
London. 

The Christian centuries are crowded with self-denying 
services on the part of those who have had nothing directly 
to gain from their devotion. And perhaps our religion has 
no greater marvel to report than this : it makes people 
interested in all that affects, for good or ill, the members 
of our human family. 

Large numbers of Christian people are not directly con- 
cerned with this question of the conditions of labor. They 
themselves and the members of their families live and 
work somewhat removed from the area of toil within which 
the pressure of industrial surroundings is felt. It is the 
plain duty of such to get into sufficiently close contact 
with the question to feel its immense significance to un- 
counted numbers of their fellow human beings. The Chris- 
tian attitude is not one of unconcern and aloofness. 

A Christian minister was one day speaking upon such a 
question when he was reminded by one of his hearers that 
the subject was no concern of his. The minister at once 
replied that, as questions of right and wrong were involved, 
it was a concern of his ; that he had hardly any other con- 
cern than to deal with such questions when their bearing 
upon the coming of the kingdom of God was considered. 

2. Duty of the capitalist. — The Christian stockholder, 
the Christian employer, owes it to himself, to society, to 
the church, to get the right attitude toward working con- 
ditions. Just to remember how much of life is lived 
within these conditions by the toilers should be enough to 
make every right-minded person desire that such conditions 
should be the best possible in the circumstances. Here is 
an outstanding instance where human rights should have 
precedence over property rights whenever the issue between 
the two arises. 

Profits and dividends are a legitimate concern of indus- 



WOEKING CONDITIONS 41 

trial enterprise, but if these are gained at the cost of right 
conditions of work for those who, by the output of their 
strength and skill, do so much to make them possible, the 
plainest teachings of Jesus are being disregarded. 

3. Duty of the laborer. — The Christian workingman 
must take the right attitude toward this question. He is 
sometimes the victim of misinformed, misguided leader- 
ship. It is not always the case that he realizes the diffi- 
culties in a given situation. Frequently he seems to be 
quite as intolerant of the desires and even the needs of 
others as are those whom he so bitterly condemns. Let 
us admit that time and again he has had cause to complain 
bitterly of the treatment he has received. But he must 
believe in the right purpose of those who are trying to 
second his efforts toward better things and must himself 
apply the Christian principle that he expects and has a 
right to demand that others shall obey. 

The Cheistian's Oppoktuxity 

1. Sympathy and understanding. — It has already been 
suggested that sympathy and mutual understanding must 
be cultivated. All who are directly concerned and all who 
are indirectly concerned must cooperate to create an atmos- 
phere within which conciliation and good will may flourish. 

The members of a ^^case committee^^ organized by one of 
the important philanthropies of a great city were drawn 
from all the churches of a community. Protestant, Catho- 
lic, and Jew were represented. Week by week these people 
met to consider cases of human need, many of them 
arising out of bad industrial conditions. Crowded and 
unsanita;ry quarters, dust-laden atmosphere, unguarded 
machinery, had taken their toll of human misery. But 
this was discovered : In every instance headway was made if 
conditions of sympathy and mutual understanding could 
be established. All the fault was not on one side, for 
sometimes the workers had failed to avail themselves of the 
opportunities for betterment which had been provided. 
Sometimes the employer had the wrong viewpoint, some- 
times the worker was at fault in this respect. But the 
members of the committee, by means of their unfailing 



42 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

sympathy with all those concerned and by their sincere 
efforts to understand the situation in its entirety, contrib- 
uted toward the well-being of men and women and greatly 
helped forward some radical changes in conditions. With- 
out such sympathy and mutual understanding this result 
would never have been possible. 

2. The social survey. — Survey work is not very popular 
just now. The last few years have seen so much of this 
undertaken and so little by comparison accomplished that 
some have come to think it a waste of time and effort. 
This is a wrong conclusion. Social conditions are so im- 
portant to the welfare of the whole community that they 
must become a matter of common knowledge. If the 
working conditions of industry are what they ought to be, 
that fact should be made known. It is a great asset of 
the community. If they are not right, they are not likely 
to be made so until the minds and consciences of men are 
stirred by the facts. 

It is usually rather difficult to get volunteers for survey 
work. People know that time and labor are involved. 
They know that some rather unpleasant experiences await 
them. But if as Christians we serve the community in only 
those ways which are easy and congenial, we are not heed- 
ing the call of duty. 

One entire community was lifted to a new level of social 
life by means of a thorough survey of its working and 
other conditions and the constructive action following. 

3. Welfare work. — Another opportunity to the Chris- 
tian who would find socially useful activity is offered by 
welfare work. It may be sometimes the case that such 
work is undertaken as a substitute for something more 
costly and more radical. If welfare work ever takes the 
place of an honest effort to improve conditions essentially 
bad; if its purpose is to make the workers a little less 
restive in such conditions, it deserves condemnation. But 
if undertaken with the right purpose and in the right 
spirit, it is of immense social usefulness. 

Welfare work must never savor of paternalism. Self- 
respecting persons do not want those who are in more 
iavored material conditions than themselves to patronize 



WOEKING CONDITIONS 43 

them. Welfare work as a fad is an offense to God and 
man. It savors of the very thing that Christianity seeks 
to destroy. But welfare work undertaken as a sincere 
attempt to make life more liveable and work more enjoy- 
able and profitable to all concerned has a large place in 
modern industry. 

If we have talents or gifts or graces which we desire to 
share with the manual workers^ just as we desire to share 
them with our closest friends; if we can go into the shop 
and factory just as we go into the parlor or drawing room, 
to contribute something toward the enjo}Tnent of all, we 
may send out influences for good far and wide. 

But in every instance the work should be carried on as 
a cooperative enterprise. Employers, workers, and social 
secretaries and those who help in carrying on the pro- 
gram, whatever it may be, should work together in mutual 
sympathy and understanding. 

4« Public opinon. — Legislation is required in many in- 
stances to correct bad working conditions. But the legis- 
lation is hopeless or largely inoperative unless it has grown 
out of and is sustained by an intelligent public opinion. 
Perhaps if the public opinion were as strong as it should 
be, the legislation would be largely uncalled for. The 
Christian must help to arouse and form that opinion. 
He must help to sustain it, for good people get tired. He 
must be fair and just and generous to all the parties con- 
cerned, but very firm in his stand for human rights. 

In the legislature of an Eastern State a group of en- 
lightened churchmen was largely responsible for the pass- 
ing of laws that improved the working conditions of multi- 
tudes of workers who did not even know that the church- 
men had the slightest interest in their welfare. 

Questions for Discussioisr 

1. Give one or two Old Testament laws for the protec- 
tion of the less favored. How do such laws restrain men 
in their use of power for selfish ends? 

2. What are some of the effects of home and school sur- 
roundings upon character? 

3. If the profits of an industry must be reduced in order 



44 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

to establish right working conditions, what should be the 
course of Christian employers? 

4. How may the less intelligent and responsive workers 
be helped to make a good use of the privilege of a whole- 
some environment? 

6. Cite instances of Christ's special care for the weak 
and heavy laden. ' 

6. If a man who openly disregards Christian principles 
in dealing with manual workers seeks church membership, 
what course should be followed ? 

7. Trace out the direct influence of the church upon the 
environment within which you live. 



CHAPTEE V 

THE CHEISTIAN AND PUBLIC HEALTH 

For reference and study: Gen. 4. 9-10; Exod. 20. 13; 
2 Kings 4. 38-41; Matt. 8. 1-4; Mark 1. 21-45; John 
5. 1-9; James 5. 13-15. 

Health in the Mij^istey of Jesus 

1. The Good Physician. — It is not surprising that one 
trained in the religion of the Old Testament should realize 
the importance of physical well-being. Health regulations 
fill a large place in the legislative enactments, and in some 
of the ceremonial observances the health of the people, 
quite as much as the formal worship of God, is considered. 

Eeverence for life is fundamental to both Old Testament 
and iSTew. Exod. 20. 13 proclaims a commandment of 
far-reaching application. 

From the opening of his ministry Jesus cared for the 
sick bodies and minds of men. He stands forth from 
the pages of the Gospels as the Good Physician. In Mark 
1. 21-45 we have a somewhat full and detailed account of 
his activity as the bringer of health to men. 

It is undoubtedly true that Jesus was himself a person 
of abounding physical health and vitality. Eepresenta- 
tions of him to the contrary have slight if any basis in the 
writings. And it is almost unthinkable that he should 
have spread the contagion of health as he did had he not 
himself been a person of large and deep physical as well 
as spiritual reserves. 

Make a list of the most striking examples of the activity 
of the Good Physician as recorded by Luke and see if this 
does not justify the deep modern interest in questions of 
health. 

2. Early Christian practice. — Early Christians followed 
the example and teaching of Jesus. In James 5. 13-15 
we imdoubtedly have the reflection of a common method 

45 



46 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

of healing. This exhortation would have been quite mean- 
ingless had it not been the case that prayer and anointing 
were much in use for the healing of the sick. 

For long the healing arts, such as they were, were prac- 
ticed by the church, and people came generally to think 
of religion as being concerned with the body quite as much 
as with the soul. 

Asceticism, with its slight regard for bodily conditions, 
was a protest against what had possibly taken too large 
a place in the thought and practice of the times; but a 
truer emphasis will give the body its due and insist that 
questions of physical well-being are closely bound up with 
questions of spiritual well-being. 

Find one or two examples in which the apostles wrought 
works of healing. 

MODEEN InTEKEST IN HeALTH 

1. Present-day interest. — Health questions of all sorts 
are topics of absorbing interest to-day. These have to do 
not only with the physical well-being of the individual but 
with the health of society. The Christian religion, with its 
emphasis upon the value of life, has widened the interest 
in this subject, until to-day it embraces mankind. 

The experience of the nation during the war emphasized 
this question. It was discovered that a large percentage of 
the young manhood of the nation was physically unfit. 
The herding of great numbers of persons in the centers 
of population, unhealthful conditions of living and work- 
ing, devitalizing amusements, constantly increasing ner- 
vous strain and tension, were found to be pouring forth 
a stream of consequences into society which threatened to 
pollute life at its source and all along its way. 

For many years there has been a multiplication of so- 
called religions and philosophies dealing with the question 
of health and how to obtain and keep it. 

2. Public health. — This interest has carried over into 
the world of social and industrial relations. States and 
communities have been aroused from torpor and indiffer- 
ence to a serious concern for the physical well-being of the 
population. Social practices and industrial organizations 



PUBLIC HEALTH 47 

have been considered from the same viewpoint. A man 
cannot any longer do what he will with that which belongs 
to him if he infringes the rights and requirements of 
public health. An industry in most enlightened communi- 
ties makes its strongest appeal to the public by a policy 
of enlightened regard for the physical well-being of the 
workers. One of the most serious charges which can be laid 
against any industrial practice to-day is that it tends 
to destroy the health of the workers. Wages and hours and 
working conditions have their place in the interest of right- 
minded people. But these do not have the same power of 
appeal as questions involving the health of the workers, 
especially of the young. 

The Cheistian" Especially Concekxed 

1. The abundant life. — The Christian of all persons sees 
or should see the scope of the redemptive purpose of 
Christ. Salvation is to him a term of familiar use. He 
understands by that term a saving purpose broad enough to 
cover the whole of life and the whole of human society. To 
be fully saved is to possess fullness of bodily^ mental, moral, 
and spiritual health. The mission of Jesus to the world 
is fully defined in his own words : '^1 came that they may 
have life, and may have it abundantly.^^ 

2. Body and spirit. — The Christian understands the su- 
preme value of the soul. And just because of that he 
rightly values the importance of the body. He knows 
that in its own place the physical life is just as important 
as the spiritual life, and that in the great majority of 
cases the life of the spirit has a much better chance for its 
development and expression if the bodily health is sound. 

While there are examples of frail and broken invalids 
who for sheer beauty of soul and splendor of spirit have no 
peers, the Christian knows that Jesus himself would not 
have spent so much time in a ministry to the physical needs 
of men if bodily health were unimportant. It is the value 
of the soul that leads him properly to see the value of the 
body. 

3. Christian concern. — The Christian's broadened hu- 
man sympathies give him an especial concern for the physi- 



48 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

cal well-being of others. When he hears the statement 
made that ^^more than sixty thousand lives are needlessly 
sacrificed every year in the United States from diseases 
which modern science knows how to prevent^^ he is not 
unmoved. When he realizes that the dread of sickness and 
disease hangs like a dark pall over the lives of multitudes 
of the unprivileged, his sympathies are stirred. And when 
he learns — as learn he must if he give the matter any seri- 
ous attention — that much of this waste and misery is 
rooted in man^s inhumanity to man, he enlists as a ^^good 
soldier of Jesus Christ^^ to make war upon the enemies of 
mankind^s health, happiness, and usefulness. 

Some Closely Eelated Questions 

1. The housing problem. — The question of the health of 

the individual and of society does not stand alone. There 
are many other matters so closely related to this one that 
they cannot be overlooked. Unless these interests are 
properly cared for, health cannot become the general pos- 
session and the usual condition of the members of society. 

First among these is the question of housing. Many 
of us live in communities where the housing question is 
not an issue ; but if we dwell within or near the limits of 
a large city, we have not far to go to discover conditions 
that make the possession of sound bodily health almost 
impossible. At great cost we equip hospitals and mobilize 
a splendid corps of doctors and visiting nurses to care 
for physical and mental breakdown, but often we do 
not go to the source of the trouble and compel property 
owners and landlords to make sanitary provisions for their 
tenants. A city pastor was called to visit a sick boy. He 
found him in a narrow hall bedroom without any natural 
light and with no direct ventilation. Was the duty of that 
pastor discharged when he offered prayer for the recovery 
of the sick and spoke words of consolation to the mother ? 

We are told by investigators that in some districts so 
great is the congestion of the living quarters of the work- 
men that one shift of men uses sleeping quarters by day, 
and another shift of men the same quarters at night. 



PUBLIC HEALTH 49 

What chance has the body, mind, or soul in such condi- 
tions ? 

Much has recently been done to improve such condi- 
tions and to make their continuance impossible. Old tene- 
ments have been pulled down and suitable buildings erected 
in their stead. Some large industrial plants have taken 
the lead in such work by building model dwellings for 
their workpeople, which are rented to them at fair rates 
and vdthout any suggestion of paternalism. 

2. Pure food. — Pure food and clean drinking water are 
essential to good health. Usually the well-to-do and the 
rich have a great advantage over the poorer residents of 
our larger communities; yet in a land of such abundance 
as our own it is easily possible that such conditions for 
the distribution of wholesome food should be established 
as to give every honest worker a fair opportunity. 

In one large city it was discovered that unclean milk 
was being sold to the poorer people, and that the babies 
in their families were dying of preventable diseases. A 
group of philanthropic persons largely recruited from the 
churches took up the matter and showed the members of 
the city council how great was the wrong being done those 
unable to defend themselves. A sanitary and practicable 
method was outlined. Finally a small appropriation was 
secured, and a few milk stations w^ere opened. An import- 
ant bureau of the department of public health grew out 
of that experiment. Thousands of lives were saved, and 
the tone of public health throughout a large section of the 
city was greatly improved. 

In 2 Kings 4. 38-41 we have an example of the close 
connection between questions of food and bodily well-being. 
The prophet was evidently the possessor of a knowledge 
the others did not have. He made good use of that knowl- 
edge to save the lives of his associates. 

3, The transportation problem. — Questions of trans- 
portation are vital in any consideration of the health of 
large aggregations of the people. If transportation facili- 
ties are not adequate, if rates are so high that only those 
in comfortable circumstances are able to pay them, great 
numbers of people are compelled to herd themselves to- 



60 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

gether in such quarters as they can find, near their work, 
and often in the most overcrowded sections. The result 
is every way bad for the physical well-being of the entire 
community. 

Sunlight and pure air are as essential to health as pure 
food and water. The more these blessings are restricted 
in their possession and enjoyment, the farther away are 
we from the coming of the reign of God in the earth. So 
we see there may be a very close connection between trolley 
and jitney service, cheap railway accommodations, and the 
creating of that empire in which love and life are to reflect 
the purpose of God. 

4. Public amusements. — Although it is to receive sepa- 
rate consideration the amusement question must have a 
paragraph in connection with the question of public health. 
The way the people play has much to do with their physical 
ill-being or well-being. Certain popular forms of so-called 
recreation are condemnable, if not on moral grounds or for 
reasons of good taste, then on the ground of their hurtful- 
ness to the health of those who engage in them. The 
Christian should also consider the physical well-being of 
those whose lives are largely spent in providing amusement 
for him. Sometimes he may escape without harm, but 
what of the others who are compelled to make a living 
catering to his enjoyment? 

Some Forms of Christian Cooperation 

1. Eecreational ministry. — The buildings of the 
churches may be used far more widely than at present to 
promote the physical well-being of the people. 

Movements like the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts 
should find hearty cooperation on the part of Christian 
people. We are all familiar with the story of the church 
official who is reported to have told Saint Peter that he 
helped to save the carpets of the church but was com- 
pelled to admit that he had not done very much to save 
the boys. Happily that type is disappearing. 

One large city church found that its social work h'ad out- 
grown its recently enlarged accommodations. The time 
came to vote whether the chapel should be altered and 



PUBLIC HEALTH 51 

partially dismantled so that it could offer enlarged facili- 
ties for athletics to a large group of boys, or whether the 
boys should be told to find their accommodations else- 
where. Every member of the official body of the church 
voted in favor of making the changes in the building, as 
much as some of them regretted those changes, rather 
than turn away these groups. Large numbers of boys, 
some of them of rather restricted opportunities, have rea- 
son to remember that church with gratitude not only for 
its religious teaching and moral inspiration but for its 
direct contribution to their bodily well-being. 

In the same neighborhood pool rooms of a very question- 
able character, but operating legally, made a bid for these 
same boys. Where were the boys more likely to find the 
bodily and mental invigoration needed — in the chapel play- 
ing basketball or in the poolroom? 

A church should investigate whether ^^street-corneritis^^ 
is epidemic among the young men of the neighborhood and, 
in the interest of public health quite as much as public 
morals, seek ways of ministering to the bodies of youth, to 
build them up for right living. 

2. Loan fund. — In almost every parish there are those 
who lack for the necessary things of life at some time in 
their experience. Sickness or slack work is often responsi- 
ble. The poor fund, as it is often called, is, except in very 
exceptional cases, an out-of-date way of showing our Chris- 
tian solicitude. All that people ordinarily want is a 
chance to get on their feet. A loan fund will be found of 
great usefulness to tide such persons over many a hard 
place. Of course the fund will be administered without 
publicity and without interest charges. 

A certain church has done some fine Christian service 
in an unostentatious way by thus assisting some of its 
members to buy coal at the same favorable prices as those 
who are able to order in larger quantities. The credit of a 
church is usually very good, when often the credit of an 
individual may be just as good but not recognized by a 
trading company. Let the church take the place of the 
company and, in the interests of bodily well-being, supply 
the lack of its own worthy members. Many a period of ill 



52 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

health in the life of wage-earners may be warded off by an 
experiment as simple as this, and while it does not reach 
down to the root of any deep trouble, it suggests a worthy 
form of Christian ministry. 

Cooperation with social agencies. — Cooperation with ex- 
isting agencies must be freely given by the members of the 
church group. It is especially desirable that some of the 
younger members should be drawn into such forms of 
activity. 

Sometimes the complaint is heard that health activities 
in a community have gotten so far away from the churches 
as to lose all suggestion of Christian purpose and spirit. 
If this is ever true, the fault lies at the door of Christian 
people who have either neglected or refused to cooperate 
with such agencies. Of course nothing narrowly sectarian 
or denominational can be introduced, nor should it be per- 
mitted. But the right kind of cooperation with existing 
agencies of public health may be and often is a very definite 
type of Christian service. A community usually knows 
when the members of Christian groups are withholding or 
giving this form of service. There is always a marked reac- 
tion upon the church. 

Scientists tell us that the white plague may be destroyed. 
In many communities Eed Cross seals are offered for sale 
at least once a year. Why should not the members of a 
young people^s society be enlisted in such a service as the 
sale of these stamps and be told that they are engaged in 
a public health crusade in the name of the Great Physi- 
cian? The Christian should hate preventable disease as 
he hates sin, and he should make a relentless war upon 
both. They are, as a matter of fact, very closely inter- 
related. 

4. Appreciation of service. — Let the church constantly 
remember those who are giving their lives for the health 
of the people. There are many ways of showing an appre- 
ciation of this large group of disinterested public servants. 
One church has for several years invited the nurses from 
near-by hospitals to spend two or three social evenings 
during the winter in its social rooms as its guests. Cath- 
olics and Jews along with Protestants have acce^pted the 



PUBLIC HEALTH 53 

invitation and enjoyed the hospitality offered. There has 
never been the slightest effort to serve anj^ ulterior pur- 
pose. Just one thing was attempted: to show a group of 
servants of the community that a Christian church appre- 
ciated what was being done for the good of all the people 
of that community in matters of public Jiealth, 

Questions for Discussio^sT 

1. In what sense is one man responsible for the well- 
being of another? 

2. What would be likely to be the attitude of Jesus, if 
he were here to-day, toward those whose bodies are broken 
and whose minds are sick ? 

3. Has the nation a greater asset than the health of its 
children ? 

4. If it is a question between immediate material profits 
and costly provisions for the health of the people, what 
should be the decision ? 

5. How will the enforcement of the Eighteenth Amend- 
ment affect the health of the people ? 

6. What place is there in the church for a movement 
seeking to discover and proclaim the laws of highest physi- 
cal and mental well-being ? 

7. Is the usual interpretation of the term '^salvation^^ 
as wide as the ministry of Jesus ? In what respects does it 
come short? 



CHAPTER yi 

THE CHEISTIAN AND PUBLIC AMUSEMENT 

For reference and study: Deut. 16. 13-17; Neh. 8. 9-12; 
Zech. 8. 5; Matt. 11. 16-lT; Mark 10. 13-16; John 2. 1- 
ll;lCor,8. 1-13; 9. 24-27. 

The Play Instinct 

1. Significance of play. — The play instinct is a part of 
our equipment. It manifests itself in infancy and it lives 
on through the years. In the boy of seven it is more 
vigorously alive than in the boy of seventy, but in a normal 
life it never dies. Pitiable indeed is the condition of the 
person who has lost it. 

This instinct is not naturally Christian, but which one of 
the instincts is ? Not the hunting instinct, for a man may 
grow up to lead a predatory life. Not hunger, for a man 
may become a glutton. But the play instinct, like every 
other instinct, may be put to a Christian use. It may 
become a powerful force in the building of a good life and 
a good community. It may be perverted, but its Christian 
possibilities have been realized by few. 

Joseph Lee defines the play instinct as ^^the instinct 
toward an ideal.^^ He discovers in the play of the children 
the reaching out toward something that they dimly see, 
but which they have not yet realized. The boy when he 
dresses himself in Indian clothes is something more than 
a boy having a good time. The little girl when she cares 
for her dolls is not engaged in a meaningless pastime. 
Both are reaching out toward qualities and habits that 
will come into use later in life. They are laying hold upon 
the future in the interests of a broader life than they now 
possess. 

This is not only true of the earliest years of life but of 
the play of individuals and communities in later develop- 

54 



PUBLIC AMUSEMENT 55 

ment. Without play great realms of the ideal are never 
entered, individual and common gains never won. 

2. Present-day conditions. — ^We are living in a time that 
emphasizes the place of play in life. It may be shown 
with good reason that play is in danger of filling too large 
a place in the program of the individual and the com- 
munity. Other important interests may suffer, yet we 
can readily see some reasons for what is taking place. 

The terrible strain and tension of the war years have 
been relaxed. Action and reaction are just as truly laws in 
the realm of the spirit as in mechanics. Life cannot be 
sustained upon one level. This is a fact with which we 
must not quarrel. But we must learn how to make use of 
that fact in the interest of a development that for the 
moment may seem to have suffered a setback. 

The crowded and congested conditions of modern living 
are in part responsible for what we see. It has been pointed 
out that play is nature's way of compensating for over- 
strain. Work in unnatural or abnormal conditions takes 
so much out of people that it is not surprising that they 
should go to unwarranted extremes in seeking release and 
recreation. 

There is a strong tendency toward community action. 
The old-time activities are no longer maintained under the 
roof-tree of the home. The old-time interests of family 
life are not, as formerly, cared for by the members of the 
family group. Eestaurants, theaters, department stores, 
apartment houses express community tendencies. This 
same force drives people out and away from the home and 
gives a great impetus to the desire for amusement. 

Is Amusement Ever Christian ? 

1. Religious festivals. — There are Christians who think 
it a sin to have a good time. Just how such a notion 
should have gotten into their minds it would be hard to 
say. They certainly did not derive it from the life and 
teaching of Jesus Christ. He was brought up in a religion 
that made much of its feasts and festivals. If the Chris- 
tian religion demanded as much of time and interest for 
such celebrations as the Jewish religion in the time of 



66 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

ChriBt, many would protest. But Jesus found no fault 
with his countrymen on this score. He himself kept the 
feasts of his time. Deut. 16. 13-17 gives us a light upon 
the practice of the people. Nehemiah showed himself to 
be master in his understanding of the human heart when 
(8. 9-12) he told the people just after they have been 
called to a strict performance of the duties enjoined by 
the law, ^^Go your way, eat the fat, and drink, . . . and 
send portions unto him for whom nothing is prepared.^^ 

2. The practice of Jesus. — Jesus himself countenanced 
many of the social practices of his own generation. He 
attended wedding ceremonies and he was a guest at feasts 
even when these were not spread by those who passed as 
correct religionists in the community. On at least one 
occasion he saved his host from great embarrassment and 
contributed directly to the joy of all those attending the 
feast (John 2. 1-11). Indeed, so free and genial was his 
own social life that they called him a ^^glutton and a wine- 
bibber^' — ^w^ords we know to have been wholly false, yet 
words that indicate to us that he never took up the attitude 
of an ascetic toward the social customs of his own time. 

3. Is amusement Christian? — Amusement is Christian 
when it contributes to the Christian purpose of life. Does 
amusement contribute, may it be made to contribute, to 
the building of the kingdom of God in the earth? He 
would indeed be a rash man who would say that it does not 
and cannot. The evidence is against him. Indeed, in 
many of the instances of those who are perverting the true 
and normal play instinct there is the underlying purpose 
to find a life that is fuller and richer than the one pos- 
sessed. It is the privilege of the church not to cry out 
against the play instinct and try to eradicate it from nor- 
mal human nature but to show how it, like all the rest of 
the equipment of our bodily and spiritual nature, may be 
made to fulfill God^s purpose of good for the individual 
and society. 

A little Negro boy from a home of poverty was romping 
at a Christmas party given by a church school for more 
than a hundred children, drawn for the most part from 
families of the same sort, when he was heard to exclaim. 



PUBLIC AMUSEMENT 57 

^^God bless this church !^^ That cry sounded as good to 
the ears of the pastor as the same wish fervently expressed 
by a saintly man in the prayer service a night or two 
before. 

4. TTnchristian amusement. — Tested by the principle we 
have laid down, much of the amusement of the present day 
is not Christian. It fails to serve the Christian purpose. 
It makes harder the realization of that purpose by the 
individual and by society. But this is because the partic- 
ular type in question is not what it ought to be, not 
because amusement itself is out of place in the program of 
the Christian and the church. Prohibitions and railing 
denunciations will accomplish little to correct the condi- 
tions we deplore. They often have exactly the opposite ef- 
fect. This is an opportunity for the church to show how 
much of the constructive imagination it has in dealing with 
a matter of immense social significance. 

The Value of Community Amusements 

1. Community amusements. — these are of two sorts — - 
those carried on by the community itself for the sake of all 
the members of the community, like a community chorus 
or a block party, and those carried on by certain groups 
within the community for those to whom they make a 
specially strong appeal, like the Young Men^s Christian 
Association or church enterprises. 

They may be further characterized in this way: some 
of them are organized for a special financial or philan- 
thropic purpose, like the support of the Eed Cross or the 
relief of the starving; some of them have a chiefly social 
significance, like a May party for the children. 

Some of these community amusements, now such only 
in name, have fallen into the hands of men who promote 
them for their own financial gain. 

This leads us to see that we cannot form a sweeping 
judgment as to the value of community amusements any 
more than we can form such a judgment as to public 
eating places. Each amusement so undertaken and con- 
ducted must be judged on its own merits. 

In one community a chorus has been conducted for sev- 



58 SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS 

€ral years. It has passed through the experimental stage 
and now seems to be a settled feature of the common life. 
The advantages to the entire community have been very 
great. An interest in good music has been cultivated, 
some of the great musical productions have been given, 
important events in the life of the community have been 
celebrated in song and festival. Apart from community 
interest and action these results never could have been 
reached. 

3. Motion pictures. — If we regard the motion-picture 
theater as a form of community amusement, not because 
it is conducted by the community for the community, but 
because all the people — old, middle-aged, and young — re- 
sort to it and are interested in it, then we introduce a very 
large question into our discussion. 

In every community you will find some who are sure 
that the motion-picture theater has been of great value to 
the community. Others will record an opposite judgment. 
When persons of right purpose and sound mind differ, what 
is one who wants to know to do ? Let him carefully think 
out what the community ought to be. He will have to turn 
to the teaching of Jesus if he wants to form a mental 
picture of community life which does not leave out the 
ideal values. He will think of persons first, and then he 
will think of conditions. The community is to be Chris- 
tian. The persons who live in it are to be Christian, the 
conditions of living are to be Christian. Such qualities as 
love, righteousness, justice, will take precedence of all 
others. Now, what about your amusement? Does it in- 
crease these or decrease them? Does it help men and 
women to embody them or make it more diifficult? What 
about home and school life ? What about other community 
interests ? Are these made more nearly what they ought to 
be, or do influences go forth from the amusements the 
community permits which have to be met and counteracted 
before Christian standards of life can be set up ? 

The consensus of opinion in a group of Christian per- 
sons of breadth of view and judgment would be very 
likely to be right upon this question in a given case and 
community; yet in the face of such opinion the Christ- 



PUBLIC AMUSEMENT 59 

informed conscience of the individual has its rights, which 
must not be denied. But in all cases the legitimate needs 
and interests of the community come before the opinions 
or even the convictions of any one individual. The Christ- 
informed mind and conscience, if dominant in a com- 
munity, may be safely trusted to settle the question of the 
value of community amusements — to prohibit those which 
devitalize, to encourage those which build up. 

Dangers of Community Amusements 

1. ^^Spectatoritis." — The dangers are easily pointed out 
but not so easily corrected. There is the danger that we 
shall come to have in all our communities a group of those 
who never take part themselves in any form of recreational 
life. ^^Spectatoritis,^^ as it has been called, is a menace 
to the physical and mental v/ell-being of many. 

It is so easy to-day to buy the amusement we want. Or 
if the community is engaged, the number of those taking 
part must almost always be restricted. The result is we 
have two groups — the entertainers and the entertained. 
Community recreations then choke out individuality and 
minister to artificiality, and the cultivation of the latter 
trait does not make for the fuller life of the group. 

The play instinct is not really satisfied unless the per- 
son in question "does something^^ himself. Too many of our 
attempts to give recreation to the people through the me- 
dium of the churches have this fault standing against 
them. Public playgrounds are doing much to train boys 
and girls away from such a deadening attitude toward the 
opportunities of recreation offered by modern life. 

2. Commercialization. — There is always the danger of 
commercialization. Someone is ready to capitalize every 
interest we have. No matter what the form of play or 
sport, someone wants to make money out of it. Often the 
offender in this respect is the church. It is just as bad for 
the church to commercialize the amusements of the people 
as for any other group in the community to do so. 

If the community is not constantly on its guard, the 
most innocent recreations of the people are in danger of 



60 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

falling into the hands of those who will exploit them for 
their own gain. 

When we consider that the motion-picture industry is 
now said to be the fourth, if not the third, commercial en- 
terprise in this country we see what a rich field for ex- 
ploitation the amusement interests of the people are. 

3. A false perspective. — Some of the most popular 
amusements of the time are giving a false view of life and 
its values to those who patronize them. Life is not what 
many of the pictures thrown upon the screen would lead 
the young to think it is. Love and marriage are not 
shown as they are in millions of instances but as they are 
among a comparatively small number of those who have 
played fast and loose with some of the most sacred rela- 
tionships of life. 

A Christian woman one day left a motion-picture theater 
as a false presentation of sacred relationships was being 
given and protested to the management. The showing of 
the film was immediately stopped. 

Jesus constantly inculcated the principle of respect for 
the personality of others in his followers. No one is com- 
mon or unclean in the sight of God. Community amuse- 
ments sometimes lower our respect for others. They some- 
times take from us the keen sense of what we owe others 
because of what they are or may be. No Christian can 
afford to be "amused^^ by that which degrades some other 
person, even though that person may not object to being 
degraded. Community amusements must heighten our 
respect for all God^s children. 

A Christiaj^ Pkogram 

1. Not ready made. — Such a program cannot be here 
given in detail. But one or two principles and ideals can 
be indicated. 

The reason that a detailed program cannot be given is 
that the program must grow out of the community instead 
of being forced down upon it. A church will sometimes 
make this mistake. Without trying to find out what those 
whom it would serve are interested in it makes its pro- 
gram and invites people to come, and then wonders why 



PUBLIC AMUSEMENT 61 

they are not enthusiastic. Let the persons who are to be 
^^reereated^^ make their own program. The church will 
help to guide them in their choices and to give them op- 
portunity to carry them out. 

This was tried in one downtown church, from which 
most of the people had moved away. An important work 
among the boys of the neighborhood was started. But no 
one went into the work with any preconceived notions as 
to what ought or ought not to be done. The boys were 
to have their chance. The leaders soon found out what 
they wanted to do and their program was set up, with 
the result that more than one thousand of them became 
interested in various forms of recreation. The Christian 
purpose underlying all such work has been steadily main- 
tained. 

2. Church cooperation. — Interchurch action will in many 
instances keep Christian ideals before the community in 
its recreative program. It is often surprising to see how 
quickly those who do not themselves follow such ideals 
will take up with the lead if given by others. A com- 
munity chorus has been of great service in promoting all 
that is best, because the leaders of the movement have high 
Christian ideals. A Jewish motion-picture operator was 
found to be willing to accede to the wishes of Christian 
people with regard to certain practices they condemned. 
A great community work conducted very largely among 
non- Christian boys exerted a powerful Christian influence 
because of the active and aggressive but never obtrusive 
Christian idealism of the leader. 

In all these instances, in addition to individual action, 
there has been a measure of collective action. Groups of 
people representing different churches and different 
branches of the church have been organized and, through 
their united interest and effort, much good has been accom- 
plished. 

3. Responsibility of the church. — The church must be 
the foremost agency in the community in seeking to con- 
struct a recreational program for its own young people 
and in providing for them the facilities to carry out the 
program. 



62 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

The church undertakes such work not as one competitive 
agency among others but as the one institution of the 
community having the privilege of ministering to the 
entire life of those whom it serves. 

The irrational division between the sacred and the 
secular is fading away as men increasingly see the essen- 
tial sacredness of every form of ministry and activity 
which makes life more nearly what it ought to be. The 
recreational activity of the church will promote Christian 
idealism, it will inculcate Christian truth, it will train the 
oncoming generation in cooperative activity and mutual 
service. 

If the church ignores the play instinct, if it seeks to 
devitalize and crush it, it will miss one of its God-given 
opportunities to do a work for its young people in the most 
effective way in which lasting impressions for good and 
intelligent training in Christian character may be made. 
Expensive equipment and extensive facilities are not re- 
quired. A start may be made in any church, in any com- 
munity, and something worth while accomplished. 

Questions for Discussion 

1. Is there a place for play in the ^^^abundant life^^ of 
which Jesus spoke ? 

2. Which of the Christian ideals does public amusement 
in your community serve? From which of them does it 
depart? 

3. Can you suggest a way by which some of the worst 
evils attendant upon commercialized amusement may be 
avoided ? 

4. Should the church make use of motion pictures in its 
services? In its educational and recreational activities? 

5. Is the modern trend in amusement away from or 
toward the development of ^"^spectatoritis^^ ? Do you re- 
gard this desirable or undesirable? 

6. Why has the church so often looked upon what we 
termed ^Vorldly amusements^^ with disfavor? 

7. Is there a tendency on the part of the church to con- 
sider recreation a normal part of its service of the com- 
munity ? 



CHAPTEEVII 

THE CHEISTIAN AND COMMEECIALIZED EVIL 

For reference and study: 2 Kings 23. 7; Isa. 5. 1-33; 
49. 5-7; Hab. 2. 12-15; Matt. 6. 13-16; 10. 1. 

COMMEECIALIZED AMUSEMENT AND COMMERCIALIZED EviL 

1. Commercialized recreation. — Is there any opportunity 
in your community for amusement aside from such as is 
offered by those who are prompted by their desire to make 
money? There may be a public playground open to all. 
Possibly you discover a well-equipped Young Men^s or 
Young Women^s Christian Association. Perhaps you are 
so fortunate as to have in your community a church that 
maintains a real recreational program. But is it not the 
case that the men who want to make money out of your 
desire to have a good time are back of most of the amuse- 
ment enterprises ? 

From the earliest times men have seen the opportunity for 
private gain in serving the recreational needs and desires 
of the people. This is not wholly to be criticized. Much 
money has been invested^ much time and labor and creative 
thought given, and opportunities of amusement have been 
presented to the people which would otherwise have been 
impossible. A motion-picture house recently showed an 
educational film of great interest and beauty, into the 
making of which a very large sum of money had gone. 
Everyone who saw the film was not only entertained but 
instructed. A view of some of the most important opera- 
tions of society was given which broadened the social out- 
look of every spectator. It was entirely legitimate that 
those who had ventured so much to produce the film should 
receive a financial return. 

But frequently the commercialization of amusements 
does not take that turn nor produce that kind of result. 
The desire to^make money out of amusement projects leads 

63 



64 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

men to exploit the community in ways of evil. In fact, a 
large part of the evil in society to be traced to the dance 
halls, the amusement parks, and evil resorts is due to the 
greed for gain on the part of selfish, unsocially minded 
men and women. 

2. Love of money. — The dangers to the individual and 
to society in amusement, as soon as it becomes commer- 
cialized, are greatly increased. The sad fact is that the 
temptation to make money cannot be resisted by a good 
many persons who would otherwise be unvrilling to harm 
their fellow men. Before the saloon was abolished, a 
respected citizen of a fine city community was looked upon 
as a distinct asset to the neighborhood. His home life 
was above reproach, his dealings with his neighbors were 
commendable. It was not generally known that he was 
the owner of a saloon in another section of the city some 
miles from where he lived. Had it not been for the oppor- 
tunity of making money out of his evil business, he prob- 
ably never could have been persuaded to stand for anything 
which would harm any person. 

In one of the finest suburban communities one of the 
most beautiful homes was occupied by the family of a man 
who made his money out of race-track gambling. In 
most respects the man himself was a model citizen, a de- 
voted husband and father. He could be counted upon to 
support all the philanthropic enterprises of the community. 
It is very doubtful whether his own children had the slight- 
est idea of the occupation of their father. They merely 
knew him to be a commuter to the big city a few miles 
distant. His love of a fine home, a stylish equipage, travel 
and all the luxuries of life, and his ability to gratify his 
tastes and the desires of his family with the money made 
out of his particular form of commercialized evil was too 
strong for him. His business opportunity blurred what- 
ever social and ethical vision he may have had. 

3. Social dangers, — The dangers to society from com- 
mercialized amusement cannot be estimated unless it is 
remembered that large combinations of brain power and 
capital have been ejffected for the exploitation of the people 
in this respect. During the days when the prohibition 



COMMERCIALIZED EVIL 65 

agitation was at its height in this country we gained some 
idea of the enormous resources in men and money of the 
liquor interests. Probably nothing was more effective 
in hastening the determination of the American people to 
abolish the traffic in strong drink than the revelation of 
the gigantic combinations that had been made to keep the 
nation ^Vet/^ 

It seems to be the case that, no matter how low and 
degrading a form of amusement may be, there are men and 
women who are willing to provide it in return for money. 
And men of great respectability are often willing to permit 
themselves to be bought up by the great interests that 
make their profits out of the shame of the people. A 
young lawyer in an Eastern city suddenly showed marks 
of unusual prosperity for one just starting out. The fact 
developed that the liquor interests had noted his unusual 
ability and had made him an offer v/hich he was not strong 
enough to resist. With his brains he was willing to make 
it harder for the people to rid themselves of an unspeak- 
able curse. The golden bait was too tempting. 

In 2 Kings 23. 7 we have the suggestion of what ap- 
pears to be about as ugly an evil as could infect society. 
Then, as now, the love of gain was the impulse which led to 
terribly corrupting practices. 

Outstanding Commekcialized Evils 

1. Its widespread extent. — Many persons lead such shel- 
tered lives that they have but little realization of the organ- 
ized operations of profitable evil. If all hope of financial 
gain could be taken away from those who promote these 
enterprises, many of them would cease to exist. It is often 
because men prefer to make money out of the degradation 
of others rather than meet the demands of honest and pro- 
ductive toil, with its smaller and less certain gains, that 
they follow their unrighteous purposes. 

There probably is not a community of any considerable 
size which is not in some way reached by the enterprise 
of commercialized evil. 

There can be no question as to the outstanding evil of 



66 SOCIAL KELATIONSHIPS 

the white-slave traffic, and that it is highly organized 
is proved beyond question by many municipal and other 
investigations. The representative of a society existing to 
aid those in distress in our larger centers of population 
recently said that large numbers of girls are drawn away 
from their homes by promises that seem fair and tempting, 
not at all realizing the lives of shame upon which they are 
setting out. 

The traffic in habit-forming drugs is carried on under 
cover. A Christian minister was invited by the chairman 
of a city committee to sit with him one afternoon to hear 
the stories told by the victims of those who were engaged in 
this nefarious business. The recital was a tale of horror 
too pitiable to be repeated. 

Sometimes, under the cover of advertisements that 
promise health and strength to the purchaser, innocent and 
unsuspecting persons are started upon the formation of 
drug habits that are sure to wreck happiness and life. 

Gambling is a business conducted oftentimes by men of 
conspicuous ability. In some communities children are 
permitted in the name of some worthy philanthropy, to sell 
chances on valuable articles for a nominal sum. The hope 
of getting something for nothing leads many persons 
against their better conscience to fall in with such prac- 
tices. Surely many must be trained by this sort of thing 
to become the victims of those who on a large scale conduct 
the gaming business in our larger centers. 

2. The Kquor evil. — Until very recently the liquor inter- 
ests would have stood at the head of the commercialized 
evils in this country. It would be impossible to form any 
adequate estimate of the brains and money invested in 
this business. The intertwinings of this snake with the 
banking and industrial interests of our cities were so subtle 
that no one realized how completely, in many instances, 
they held us in their grip. Even our churches did not 
escape. The lips of some prominent church officials were 
sealed. In a few instances ministers became the spokes- 
men of interests that secretly they must have loathed. 

The passing of the prohibitory amendment to the Con- 
stitution of the United States has changed all this. But 



COMMEECIALIZED EVIL 67 

let US not think that society has nothing further to fear 
from this source. A good deal of that which used to do 
business in the open has been driven underground. A man 
generally regarded as a respectable citizen was reported 
recently to have boasted of the fortune that he had made 
in smuggling contraband liquor into this country and dis- 
posing of it at a fabulous sum. One man could not carry 
out that sort of thing. Many others must have been parties 
to the crime. A brewer has recently made the statement 
that in certain States^ which he named, the breweries are 
making beer just as they have done for years. Eevelations 
made in some of our cities since the enforcement of the 
Volstead Act was undertaken seem to indicate that an 
extensive underground organization exists to defeat the 
will of the great majority of the people of this country 
as expressed in the prohibitory legislation. 

Complexity of the Peoblem 

1. Our mixed population. — The mixed character of our 
population helps to make this problem complex. We have 
men and women from many different racial groups. They 
have different moral standards. They bring with them 
traditions and customs that often make it hard for them 
to adapt themselves to the land of their adoption. Many 
of them are illiterate. All too often they have been griev- 
ously sinned against. They have been induced to come 
here by tempting offers of financial gain only that they 
might be exploited by a ruthless commercialism. They 
have not been assimilated by our common life. Frequently 
they become the prey of the agents of commercialized evil 
and prove to be a profitable source of gain to those who 
think more of money than of character. In many instances 
the need of these unfortunate persons becomes the oppor- 
tunity of the evildoer. 

Let it be remembered, on the other hand, that many of 
the most outspoken champions of all that is best in our 
national life have come from among those who have come 
from other lands. Both the nation and the church have 
largely failed to realize the vast possibilities of highest 



68 SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS 

intelKgence and moral worth to be found among our for- 
eign-born citizens. 

2. The complicated situation. — The condition reflected 
in Christ^s parable of the wheat and the tares adds to the 
complexity of the problem. It is seldom the case that the 
line between the good and the evil is so clearly drawn 
that it may be followed, even by men of thoroughly right- 
eous purpose, without injuring interests or persons in- 
volved. Sometimes the distinction is clean cut, and there 
is just one thing to do. But the outreachings of the forces 
of organized evil are so broad, the intertwinings with 
human affairs so subtle, that frequently the issue is com- 
plicated before the minds of good people, and they are un- 
certain as to just the course that their Christian conduct 
should follow. 

Then, too, there is the man higher up. Sometimes he 
is a prominent citizen, the main influence of whoso life is 
good. Sometimes he is an outstanding member of the 
church, known far and wide for his profession of interest 
in the affairs of the Kingdom. Sometimes, in spite of 
great difiiculties and strong temptations to personal gain, 
he is honestly trying to discharge the obligations of an en- 
lightened conscience. To give every man his due but no 
more than his due should be the aim of every person trying 
to help make Christian ideals effective in modern society. 
There will be no cringing before wealth, no fawning upon 
power, no soft-soaping of the guilty; but in many fields 
the fact that the wheat and the tares are growing together 
will form an added complication in dealing with the 
situation. 

3. A divided church. — The sectarian and sometimes 
partisan divisions of the Christian Church must also be 
noted. So long as organized evil sees a divided Chris- 
tianity it knows that it has little to fear from the attack 
of Christian forces. Not long ago when an attempt was 
being made in the Legislature of one of our States to 
defeat legislation that sought to curb the activities of a 
prosperous form of organized evil, the leader of the lobby- 
ists said to a Christian minister that if the forces of the 
church were organized as were the forces in opposition, it 



COMMERCIALIZED EVIL 6& 

would be possible for Christian people to have whatever 
they wanted. He may have overestimated the power of 
concerted action, but his opinion is worth noting. 

What the Cheistian Can Do 

1. As an individual. — The Christian can wake up to the 
conditions as they are, and not allow himself to live in any 
sort of a fooFs paradise. Ignorance of social conditions i& 
at the root of much of the inactivity of the individual 
Christian. He is not directly touched by what is going 
on, he is not brought face to face with many of the worst 
forms of evil, and he often lulls himself into the comfort- 
able belief that the kingdom of God is making progress in 
the earth, that it is bound to grow from more to more,. 
and that he is excused from any sharp sense of personal 
responsibility. 

He vsdll not become a crank or a faddist ; he will guard 
against the role of the special pleader; but he will thor- 
oughly inform himself, first, as to conditions in his own 
community; and then, so far as he is able, he will extend 
the scope of his inquiry that he may be better informed as 
to the fortunes of the kingdom of God among men. One 
of the most intelligent and effective surveys ever under- 
taken in one of our great cities was largely due to the 
interest of one person who would not give up until he won 
the support of others far less interested than himself. One 
Christian minister took active steps toward the organiza- 
tion of Christian sentiment in his own community. Jews 
and Catholics were drawn into a movement for better 
things. At least ten liquor saloons were denied licenses 
because of the activity of this group, and conditions in the 
motion-picture theaters were greatly improved. 

2. Through the church. — There should be a wide-awake 
and thoroughly informed committee to deal with such mat- 
ters in every local church. This committee should be some- 
thing more than a nominal group. It should hold regular 
meetings at stated intervals and should carry on a con- 
tinuous study of social and other conditions underlying the 
activities of the interests opposed to the ideals of the Chris- 
tian Church. 



70 SOCIAL KELATIONSHIPS 

The time will come, if it has not already arrived, when 
the local church will see that it is just as much its busi- 
ness to carry on an active campaign against the forms of 
commercialized evil established and operating in its com- 
munity as it is to hold regular services of worship. We 
have divided that which should be united in the program 
of the church. 

V A special work should be done among the young people of 
the parish, giving them every possible help in their fight 
for good character. For their sake an active propaganda 
in favor of all that is good and wholesome in community 
life should be continuously supported. 

3. Through existing social agencies. — The police power 
of the community may usually be counted upon to express 
the will of the community. If there is a strong public 
sentiment in favor of law enforcement, order and decency 
will usually prevail. If it is known that the community 
will not be satisfied except all those — even those higher 
up — in the promotion of commercial evil are detected and 
punished, the machinery will usually work. 

There are other agencies inside and outside the church 
which should have the generous support of all persons 
who desire to see the reign of righteousness in the earth. 
We often leave those who are conducting this fight to spend 
a large part of their time gathering funds for the carrying 
on of their work. We expect them to forge their own 
weapons and then conduct the fight. We criticize them if 
results are not immediately forthcoming. 

The next few years will mark either a decided moral 
advance or a distinct moral decline in the life of this 
nation. If the prohibitory legislation is to be flouted 
either by the forces of organized evil or by individuals 
who are otherwise law-abiding citizens, the results will be 
far-reaching. Eespect for all law will be weakened, and 
the number of those who think that law is made to be 
evaded or broken when it conflicts with their individual 
will or wish will be greatly increased. 

4. The vote. — Organized evil fears nothing quite so 
much as the ballot. So long as the promoters of profitable 
wickedness know that the members of the political parties 



COMMEECIALIZED EVIL 71 

can be played off against each other they are contented. 
Christian citizenship has a greater claim upon us than 
loyalty to any political party. The ballot is held in trust 
for the kingdom of God. Eighteousness and brotherhood 
in the earth may be mightily hindered or helped by the 
man or the woman in the voting booth. 

Questions for Discussion 

1. Against what evils do the prophets most frequently 
warn the people ? 

2. In the light of their warning do modern conditions 
indicate a moral advance ? 

3. In your judgment has the desire for wealth decreased 
or increased since ancient times ? How do you explain 
this? 

4. Should a man who secretly — or, for that matter, 
openly — follows some gainful form of evil but in other 
respects is a person of fine character be counted a good 
citizen ? 

5. Should such a person be received into the church if he 
should desire to join? Give a reason for your answer. 

6. Is our country likely to reverse its action on the pro- 
hibitory amendment? What danger in this direction is to 
be feared ? 

7. Can a divided or united Christendom the better meet 
the forces of organized evil and win a sweeping victory for 
righteousness and the good life ? 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE CHEISTIAN AND THE TREATMENT OP 

CRIMINALS 

For reference and study: Matt. 18. 21-35; 25. 31-46; 
Luke 12. 41-48; 16. 1-13; 22. 54-62; 23. 39-43. 

Who Are the Criminals? 

1. Antisocial attitude. — Because a person breaks a law, 
it does not follow that he is a criminal. There probably 
is not a person in society who at some time has not broken 
a law. That does not put him in the criminal class. When 
the sign at the entrance to the bridge forbids a man to 
drive his car across at a rate of speed faster thaa five 
miles an hour, he does not become a criminal if he care- 
lessly fails to heed that ordinance. It would be better for 
him and for society if he gave a careful obedience to that 
kind of a law. For the criminal starts with disrespect for 
law. To him law seems to stand in the way of that to which 
he thinks he has a right. It may be that he thinks he 
has been unfairly dealt with. He may carry a grudge 
against society. 

His disregard of law grows out of an antisocial attitude 
of mind. The criminal is a man who is out against society. 
He is first and all the time for himself. His own con- 
duct is a law unto itself. For the social enactments, 
laws, and statutes that safeguard the interests of society 
he has no respect. He sets up his own will against the 
expressed will of his fellow men and follows a course that 
is destructive of individual and collective well-being. 

2. Social responsibility for crime. — Some criminals seem 
to be born such. For many years careful students have 
investigated this question. They have reached the conclu- 
sion that numbers of children are born into this world 
with a predisposition toward crime. Usually they are the 

72 



THE TKEATMENT OF CEIMINALS 73 

children of fathers and mothers who are themselvee defec- 
tive, morally, mentally, physically. 

But many more criminals are made. This is not to say 
that the persons who go wrong have no responsibility for 
what they do ; but it is to place a heavy burden of responsi- 
bility upon those who have helped to make the conditions 
within which the criminals were developed. That means 
that all of us share this responsibility. For society has 
it within its own power largely to eliminate the condi- 
tions that make it easy for some of its members to go 
wrong. 

A notorious section in a great city was cleaned up* 
It took an immense amount of publicity and great deter- 
mination on the part of a group of citizens to get the clean- 
ing-up process in motion. The neighborhood had contrib- 
uted a large quota to the law-breaking element of that 
section. An almost marvelous improvement followed. 

3. The perversion of instinct. — A great deal of the 
wrongdoing that finally lands men and women in the 
criminal class is due to the perversion of instincts and de- 
sires that are themselves right. The perversion of the pos- 
sessive instinct may make a man a thief. Perversion of 
some of the noblest social instincts leads to some of the 
most repulsive wrongdoing. Even the desire for an unre- 
strained ^^good time" may start a gang of city boys on the 
road that leads toward the reformatory and the prison. 

A bright boy who was reclaimed by the remedial 
agencies of the church started on his wrong course by the 
theft of apples from a freight-car standing on a siding. 
That initial act was not prompted by a criminal spirit. 
But the later developments showed how quickly one wrong 
step may lead to another. 

Poverty, depressed spirits due to unemployment, the 
nursing of real or imaginary grievances against society, 
unrestrained desire for excitement and a life of pleasure, 
contribute toward the making of the criminal in modern 
society. 

4, Immigrants and crime. — Let it not be supposed that 
our immigrants furnish an undue proportion of the crim- 
inal group in our country. That is not the case, as many 



74 SOCIAL KELATIONSHIPS 

investigations go to prove. As a matter of fact, a recent 
investigation in a large city carried on among the juvenile 
offenders showed that many of them came from American 
homes, had passed through some of the grades of the 
public schools, and in many instances had had some sort of 
connection with religious agencies. 

Chkistiajst Ideals in the Treatment of Ceiminals 

1. The Christian attitude. — There is far more of an 
attempt to-day to apply Christian ideals in the treatment 
of criminals than ever before. Some still cry down as 
shallow sentimentalism any attempt on the part of men 
to apply the idealism of Jesus to this situation, but the 
results of such attempts are so fruitful in good that the 
criticism is largely ineffective. There is still much to be 
desired, but in our most enlightened communities great 
progress has been made. 

In Matt. 18. 21-35 our Lord in a striking parable incul- 
cates the principle of mercy in dealing with those who are 
deserving of punishment. The king was minded to give 
his servant a chance to meet his obligation. 

Again, in Matt. 25. 31-46 we have the commendation of 
Jesus upon those who refused to treat the prisoner as an 
outcast but went to him and ministered to him. 

Consider these and other passages as the source of Chris- 
tian ideals for the treatment of individual and social 
offenders. 

2. Indeterminate sentence and probation. — The system 
of the indeterminate sentence and the probation plan seek 
to temper justice with intelligent mercy. Under the for- 
mer scheme the offender himself determines whether he 
shall find his way back into society after a longer or shorter 
stay in a penal institution. The chance of his regaining 
his freedom is a great incentive to good behavior and 
moral reform. 

Under the plan of probation sentence is suspended, and 
the offender is required to report to some designated person 
at stated intervals. Frequently the payment of a sum of 
money is required. If there is evidence of a desire to do 
right, the period is shortened; but if there is added evi- 



THE TEEATMENT OF CEIMINALS 75 

dence of wrongdoing, the offender is sentenced and pun- 
ished. 

How much more Christian this way of dealing with those 
who have done wrong than such methods as were for- 
merly employed ! This has largely come about through the 
pressure of Christian principle and idealism. 

Under the probationary system a man who had done 
great wrong was restored to his family and to an honor- 
able place of employment in society. The local church 
with which his family was connected was largely responsi- 
ble for the outcome. The youngest members of that family 
may never know of their father^s crime. If he had been 
compelled to spend a long term of years in prison, how dif- 
ferent would have been the effect upon himself, his family, 
and upon society ! 

A young woman, now the wife and mother of a family, 
was saved in the same way. Had it not been for the ap- 
plication of Christian principles, she would to-day un- 
doubtedly be far along the way of an evil career. 

3. Brothering the boy. — The Big Brother movement is 
so well known in all our communities, and its effects for 
good so far-reaching that it stands forth as a preeminent 
agency in the treatment of juvenile wrongdoers. One of 
the chief promoters of this movement told the story of a 
boy whose "big brother^' was a prominent man in the 
financial operations of the city where he lived. He took 
this boy into his home, gave him the privilege of a Chris- 
tian environment, and wrought a transformation in his 
character such as even the man himself had not believed 
possible. 

An attempt has been made to organize the boys of the 
underworld somewhat after the manner of a Boy Scout or 
Young Men^s Christian Association organization. This 
work has gone forward in the metropolis of our land. Many 
influential citizens have become interested in it. They are 
taking hold of the gang spirit and making a good use of 
it in promoting good character and right living. Kecently 
at a meeting of men in one of our churches two young 
fellows, gangsters and adepts in crime, told the story of 
their reclamation. 



76 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

The story is too long to be told in detail. Juvenile 
courts, truant and probation oflBcers, reformatories that 
reform, homes of mercy that fulfill a Christian mission, 
correctional farms and industrial activities, proclaim the 
coming of a new day in the treatment of the criminal 
or the person who seems to have the making of one. No 
chapter of the story of life building shows a more deter- 
mined attempt to apply Christian ideals to human rela- 
tionships. 

Wherein Society Falls Short 

1. Perversions of justice. — The Christian ideal proclaims 
justice to all men irrespective of race, religion, or condi- 
tion. While it is undoubtedly attempted in most com- 
munities to follow this ideal, there are glaring evidences of 
its denial. There have been instances in recent years in 
which it has appeared that money has given advantages to 
those accused of crime or those sentenced for crime which 
poor persons would not have had. This is not to suggest 
that bribes have been given and received, or that the 
course of justice has been directly perverted by a wrong 
use of gold; but if large means had not been possessed, 
the system under which we live would not have given cer- 
tain offenders the chance their money was able to procure 
for them. 

This condition of affairs is intolerable in a Christian 
democracy or in a society of men and women which aspires 
to be that. 

We can hardly claim that race and color have no bearing 
upon our treatment of the accused and the criminal. It 
is all too plain that certain terrible perversions of justice 
have been permitted in enlightened communities l^cause 
of racial or other prejudices. The Christian ideal of 
equality of all men before the law is disregarded and tra- 
duced in all such instances. 

2, Convict labor. — The treatment of criminals by some 
States and in some institutions is still far below the level 
of what a human being in a Christian land has a right to 
expect from society. Take the matter of payment for 
convict labor. A man commits a crime. He is locked up 



THE TEEATMENT^OP CEIMINALS 77 

in prison and set to work. Often he receives next to 
nothing for his work and at the end of his term is com- 
pelled to make a new start in life without any financial 
resources. But the members of his family are the worst 
sufferers. If they are not so circumstanced as to be able 
to support themselves, they become a public charge. One 
group of charity workers found it necessary to raise large 
sums of money for the support of a dependent family of 
little children. The father was an experienced shoe- 
maker. In the institution where he was confined he was 
doing work from which the State derived a considerable 
profit. The return to him for the benefit of his family was 
a miserable pittance, so small that his family would have 
starved had it not been for the help given. In the particu- 
lar State where this incident occurred the condition has 
since been improved. 

3. The released criminal. — Perhaps the failure of society 
to apply Christian ideals to its treatment of the criminal 
is nowhere so glaring as after the release of the offender. 
In some communities it is impossible for a man who has 
been in a penal institution to regain any standing whatever. 
A spirit of Pharisaism controls the attitude of the citizens 
toward him. It is not admitted that a man may do wrong 
and be converted from the error of his way and do right. 
The basic truth of our Christian religion is denied, at least 
so far as any practical recognition of it is concerned. 

A Christian minister found it almost impossible to dis- 
cover anyone willing to give a man who had served a Staters 
prison term a chance. Most of those approached had very 
plausible reasons for declining. One or two spoke out 
frankly what was in the minds of all the rest and said 
that they would have nothing to do with a criminal, that 
they were not conducting reform schools, and more of that 
same order. Yet these were Christian men, professing to 
believe in the gospel of the redeemed life and the fair 
opportunity. 

Opportunities of Christian Service 

1. A fair trial. — We must remember that Jesus himself 
was a prisoner. He was charged with crimes he never 



78 SOCIAL KELATIONSHIPS 

committed and he was most shamefully treated. His own 
experience in many respects is repeated over and again in 
the cases of others. In nearly every community there is 
need that public sentiment should be aroused in favor of 
giving the uncondemned man every chance to get justice. 

In our country a man is counted innocent until he is 
proved guilty. The burden of proof is always upon those 
who bring the accusation. No man is ever required to 
prove that he is innocent. Practical conditions and treat- 
ment do not always reflect this principle. Study the treat- 
ment given Jesus and see whether anything of a similar 
spirit and nature is ever evident in your community. 

A man was accused of a serious crime. Before he was 
tried, a large part of the community had made up its 
mind as to his guilt. His trial failed entirely to sub- 
stantiate the accusation. But because of the prejudgment 
of his case it was exceedingly difficult for him to establish 
himself in the community. This is in direct contradiction 
of Christian principle. 

2. Confession and sympathy. — Jesus himself had deal- 
ings with criminals. He was crucified between two male- 
factors. His treatment of them is instructive. Luke 23. 
39-43 gives us the story. One of these men railed on 
Jesus; the other sought the remembrance of mercy. The 
love of the Saviour of men never shone out more trium- 
phantly than in that experience upon the cross. If Jesus 
had not had the heart of eternal love, it would have been 
easy for him to turn a deaf ear to the words of the wrong- 
doer. 

We should learn our lesson from that incident. If a 
man has done wrong, and we know it, and the community 
knows it, his condition is usually pitiable in the extreme. 
We all seem to forget the cardinal principles of our own 
religion. In a certain city a prominent citizen feared to 
stand for public office which he would have been eminently 
qualified to fill because he had good reason to believe that 
political enemies would make use of facts of wrongdoing 
in his early life. The wrong was committed years before. 
It had been abundantly atoned for. Many years of up- 
right citizenship did not serve to give this man the clean 



THE TEEATMENT, OF CEIMHSTALS 79 

bill of health to which he was entitled. Literature gives 
many examples of the extreme difficulty with which wrong- 
doers have made their way to honor and usefulness. Victor 
Hugo^s picture of Jean Valjean reflects conditions far from 
Christian. 

In a certain influential church a man was making this 
uphill fight for character and a fair chance. Had it not 
been for the determination of a few who stood resolutely 
back of him, he might have failed. There was little 
warmth of sympathy, little help from the majority of those 
who knew about his case. 

3. Prison reform. — One of the crying needs of American 
society is for prison reform. While great strides forward 
have been made, conditions are still far from ideal. In 
some communities they are a standing rebuke to organized 
Christianity. For some reason those who give themselves 
to this work are often regarded as open to a peculiar type 
of suspicion and a virulent criticism. A few years ago a 
striking attempt was made to reform conditions in Sing 
Sing. Probably no servant of his kind ever called down 
upon himself more bitter criticism than the leader of that 
movement. He was accused of every mean and despicable 
thing of which his enemies could think. Some of the 
charges brought against him would have made it appear 
that he was worse than the men behind the bars for whom 
he was so unselfishly working. 

The better type of judge is in favor of the sort of reform 
work in prison conditions and administration which helps 
to accomplish the saving purpose for which the law exists. 

4. Redemptive punishment. — The Christian above all 
others must stress the purpose of our punitive system. He 
must clearly understand this himself and he must help 
others to see it. The fundamental purpose of punishment 
is the redemption of the offender. The treatment by Jesus 
of the criminal upon the cross shows this. True, a man 
must be punished if he has wronged society. There is also 
a deterrent effect to be expected from the punishment of 
crime, although students of the situation are pretty gen- 
erally agreed that this effect is not very great. But what- 
ever secondary effect may be sought, the reclamation of the 



80 SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS 

offender to a good life is the aim society should always 
have in mind. 

There is still so much of the lust of revenge in human 
hearts that men easily lose sight of this redemptive pur- 
pose. Punishment for its own sake becomes the end 
sought. This is to pervert justice and to bring to nothing 
the operations of the remedial agencies which at so great 
a cost society has established. One church made a real 
contribution at this point by inviting a judge to set forth 
this view at one of its social meetings. Influences were 
there set in motion which helped to bring about a series 
of practical reforms in the practice of one of the penal 
institutions of the county. 

Questions por Discussion 

1. Should we be extremely careful in applying the term 
^^criminaF^ to any member of society ? Is every wrongdoer 
a criminal ? 

2. Cite instances in history of men being regarded and 
treated as criminals by one generation and lauded as 
benefactors by the next? 

3. Is the antisocial spirit confined exclusively to any one 
group or section of society? 

4. How may men sin against the welfare of society 
without breaking any law of the land ? 

5. What does the method of Jesus in his treatment of a 
criminal suggest to us as to right procedure to-day ? 

6. Do you know of any way in which your own church 
group might more effectively carry out the teaching of 
Matt. 25 regarding the social offender ? 

7. What has the church done to help create a truly hu- 
mane spirit in dealing with lawbreakers ? Has any other 
agency had anything like the same amount of good influ- 
ence ? 



CHAPTEE IX 

THE CHEISTIAN^S POLITICAL EESPONSIBILITY 

For reference and study: Exod. 18. 21-23; Deut. 16. 
18-20; 17. 8-20; Neh. 1. 1-11; Matt. 22. 15-22; John 
19.8-11; IPet. 2. 13-17. 

Has the Chkistian any Business in Politics? 

1. Christian leadership. — Eeligious leaders have always 
been concerned with politics. Moses the lawgiver, Samuel 
the seer, David the king, Isaiah the prophet, are the fore- 
runners of a glorious company of men and women who 
^Tiave followed in their train.^^ The Christian citizen takes 
his place in this goodly succession and finds that he too is 
responsible for what nation. State, and city are and do. 

To say that the Christian has no business in politics is 
to misconceive the plainest teaching of Christ concerning 
our human duties and obligations. How can any person 
^^render unto Caesar the things that are CaesarV^ if he 
takes no interest in political affairs ? 

The type of other- worldliness which those seek to promote 
who attempt to draw a line between what they call religious 
and secular affairs is strangely foreign to the mind of 
Christ. 

Sometimes, by no means always, the real reason for this 
insistence that the Christian shall take no part in politics 
is that evildoers fear the results of the aroused, intelligent 
Christian conscience. It was intimated to a Christian 
citizen that if he would cease his attacks upon certain 
vested evils that had powerful support in the political 
organization of his community, it would be greatly to his 
advantage. The citizen was not feared, but the effect of 
his insistence that the evil should be righted was feared. 
The awakened public conscience is usually the forerunner 
of better political conditions. 

2. Christian influence. — It is because Christians have 
gone into politics that many notable gains for the common 

81 



82 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

life have been secured. Oliver Cromwell stands forth as 
the protagonist of freedom and democracy in goverrmient. 
He led his hosts in their fight against the tyranny of kings 
and helped to bring in a better day for England and for 
the world. His character and deeds still live. Gteorge 
Washington was a Christian soldier and statesman. Our 
own early history gives him a place of unique importance 
in the winning and establishing of our civil rights as an 
independent people. 

Your own community must furnish you with the name 
and example of some Christian citizen whose political ac- 
tivities have had a most wholesome influence upon the 
common life. Is it diflBcult to believe that just because of 
the Christian profession of this citizen his loyal service 
was largely what you know it to be ? 

Within recent years in more than one city of America 
a Christian mayor has broken the power of corrupt political 
groups and established an order of political righteousness. 

Eun your eye over the list and see how many of the 
Presidents of our nation have been men of clean-cut Chris- 
tian profession. 

3. Religion and citizenship. — The separation between 
church and state does not mean a similar separation be- 
tween our duties as members of the church and citizens of 
the state. That would be to introduce a fatal division 
into life itself. The church as such must not enter into 
politics in the sense of engaging in any kind of political 
activity. The state as such must not invade the precincts 
of the church and attempt to prescribe creed^ message, and 
form of worship. But the citizen must remember his 
obligation to the state even in his hours of worship, and the 
worshiper must go forth from the temple to engage in all 
his duties as a citizen, not shirking or evading any respon- 
sibility. Above all, he will never use his religion as a pre- 
tense for failing to take his full part in the political activi- 
ties of his community. 

The Christian View of the State 

1. Guardian of the order of society. — The state is not an 
end in itself. It does not exist for its own sake. It is 



POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY 83 

because such views were taught for a generation to the 
youth of Germany that the World War became a certainty. 
The state is the servant of the people. It is an instrument 
by which the people set up and maintain the order of 
democracy, which guarantees our freedom and our oppor- 
tunity. There is little choice between glorifying the na- 
tion as an end in itself and deifying a ruler. Both notions 
are rapidly disappearing from the minds of men. Un- 
doubtedly the spread of Christian ideals^ and principles is 
hastening the process. 

The state as the instrument or agency created by the citi- 
zens guards the order of society. If order is heaven^s 
first law, it is also the first law of any government worth 
the name. Society must be established in order. It must 
proceed in order. Its changes must proceed in orderly 
fashion. 

By means of the army and navy, policemen, and other 
public servants the state seeks to maintain order. 

But these agencies would find their task incalculably 
more diSicult were it not for that other great agency main- 
tained by the state — the public school. Here boys and girls 
are trained in our best traditions and ideals, they are filled 
with the spirit of an intelligent and progressive patriotism. 

In a democracy such as ours order should not rest pri- 
marily upon force but upon the intelligent devotion of the 
citizens to the ideals and purposes which safeguard the 
highest interests of us all. 

The churches contribute greatly toward this end. But 
as they are not maintained by the state they do not come 
under our consideration in this connection. 

Is it possible for the state as the guardian of social order 
to resort to practices of compulsion and repression which 
prevent the free discussion of questions of public concern? 
Where should the line be drawn ? If the state oversteps its 
bounds, is it really the guardian of social order ? Consider 
how the ideals of freedom and order may be harmonized. 
Read Deut. 17. 8-20 with the idea of drawing from it 
principles that inculcate respect for authority. 

2. The agency of righteousness. — What do you think of 
the action of those States which just now are seeking to find 



84 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

a way of nullifying the force of the Eighteenth Amend- 
ment? If the state is the servant of righteousness, can 
such action be justified? And if the state fails to set 
forward the cause of righteousness in the land, what is the 
outlook ? 

A good deal of old political machinery has been scrapped 
during recent years and new built in its place. It is in- 
structive to notice that much of this is for the express pur- 
pose of helping the cause of righteousness forward. Note 
the Children's Bureau connected with the federal govern- 
ment, juvenile courts and commissions in many of our 
States, reform schools that really train for life and the 
duties of citizenship. 

Much recent legislation contributes to the extension of 
righteousness throughout the land. Laws that protect 
women and children from work and hours that tend to 
lower the standard and practice of morality, laws that pro- 
hibit gambling and put out of business the type of pool 
room which fosters gambling, the very general outlawry 
of racetrack gambling and prize fighting, — these are in- 
stances. 

The adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment is believed 
by many to be a distinct step forward not only in political 
practice but in righteousness. The granting of the fran- 
chise to women injects a new element into politics. In 
one of our Eastern States a drastic law for the enforcement 
of prohibition bears the name of one of the first women to 
be elected to the Legislature. The brave, forceful way in 
which Lady Astor has recently spoken out against the 
liquor interests in Great Britain in the face of ingrained 
custom and immeasurable opposition gives us an idea of 
what may often be expected in days to come. 

In view of many recent developments it is interesting to 
inquire how far righteousness may be promoted by law. 
It is also of profit to ask how far the state has taken over 
certain functions in this matter which really rest back 
upon such a moral and spiritual agency as the ciiurch for 
their potency. 

Deut 16. 18-20 throws an instructive light upon the 
organization of the Hebrew people for purposes of justice. 



POLITICAL EESBONSIBILITY 85 

the highest form of righteousness, in the administration of 
law. 

3. A means of promoting the kingdom of God. — We 

must be careful how we use these words in this connection. 
They must not suggest to our minds an order of society 
distinct from the one we know as citizens. The kingdom 
of God comes in nation, State, and city as the will of God 
becomes the law of life of the citizens, the organizing 
principle of their action in common. The kingdom of God 
comes as the rule of righteousness spreads. 

If the state helps an employer to deal more justly with 
his employees the state is promoting the kingdom of God. 
If the state makes it easier for the manual workers 
not only to receive what is their due but to con- 
tribute toward the general welfare what society has a right 
to expect from them it is helping forward the kingdom 
of God. The public schools may become and in many 
instances are agencies to promote the highest interests of 
the Kingdom. All legislation such as we have just noted 
directly contributes toward setting up such conditions as 
favor rather than hinder the forward movement of God^s 
rule in human society. 

In recent years the nation has made an immense contri- 
bution to the Kingdom in the work of reconstruction and 
the relief of misery among the lands and people devastated 
by the war. Great agencies of government have given their 
aid to this work. From the President to the least import- 
ant official in our smallest political division a personal 
interest has been taken in this work. Think of ^^the Christ- 
mas ship^^ and what it meant to the children whose parents 
and homes had been killed and destroyed in the war. This 
was not an enterprise of the government but it was helped 
forward in many ways by the government. The great 
funds that have been raised could not have been admin- 
istered as they were apart from the aid of government 
oflScials and machinery. Every time the nation does any- 
thing that helps to bring men more closely together in 
mutual understanding and helpfulness it contributes 
toward the progress of the rule of God in the earth. 

Single out one or two instances in which your own local 



86 SOCIAL KELATIONSHIPS 

government has recently taken some action which, from 
your Christian viewpoint, you have the right td interpret 
as promoting the kingdom of God in your own community. 
We sometimes think the churches are the only agencies of 
society engaged in such work. 

When the Eoman government threw about the apostle 
Paul its strong protecting arm (Acts 22. 22-29) it was 
doing far more than the chief captain knew to advance the 
reign of God in the earth. 

Some New Factoks in the Political Situation 

1. The independent voter. — He is not altogether new 
but, because of his increasing numbers, he has an altogether 
new place of power. During the last Presidential election 
the greatest efforts were made by the political parties to 
gain his support. It was remembered that a few years 
before he had determined the result of the election. 

This is a wholesome sign of the times. Doubtless in our 
country the party system is necessary to the orderly pro- 
gress of our political practice; but when party loyalty 
becomes an unthinking subserviency to those who hold 
political power it is bad for the free development of the 
people. 

Candidates need to be considered with utmost care. The 
enforcement of many of our best laws lags because the 
man elected to office does not fulfill his preelection pledges. 
The mayor of a certain city recently remarked that those 
who had supported him because they thought he would 
follow a certain course in law enforcement were about to 
have their eyes opened. The independent voter is the 
only person feared by such an officeholder. 

On the other hand, the independent voter has made it 
possible for many high-minded officials to fulfill their pre- 
election pledges. They know that a strong body of intelli- 
gent sentiment would back them against the machinations 
of the politicians. 

One of the greatest services of our schools and colleges 
is the training of a large body of men and women to think 
independently upon the important questions of the time. 

2. Women in politics. — The advent of women into poli- 



POLITICAL EESPONSIBILITY 87 

tics has already been referred to. Here is a large and 
incalculable element. Those who have supported the cause 
of universal suffrage are of the firm belief that this new 
element in the political situation prophesies well for the 
future. 

Women are usually closer to the needs of the homes of 
the people than the men. Matters that bear hea\dly upon 
those needs will be considered by them. And when it is 
remembered that they constitute a large body of property 
owners and wage earners they may be counted upon to do 
their own thinking upon the economic questions now be- 
fore us. Already the platforms of the political parties 
make a larger place for human and social matters than 
formerly. This is partly due to the presence of women 
in their councils. 

Are the girls of America preparing themselves for the 
larger responsibilities that await them as citizens with the 
power of the ballot in their hands ? 

Peinciples That Should Guide the Christian Citizen* 

1. Meet his obligations. — The purely political activity of 
the average Christian citizen will not consume a great part 
of his time. Unless he is connected with the organization 
and administration of one of the political parties or an 
officeholder he will live most of his life in an atmosphere 
remote from purely political considerations. This very 
fact must put him on his guard. He may easily come to 
think that his political duties as such are of little im- 
portance. The Christian citizen will not make this 
blunder. 

He will faithfully discharge every obligation to the 
state. In the use of his ballot he will proceed with care 
and conscience. A man was heard to boast of the fact that 
he had not voted in a certain number of years. He de- 
clared that he could spend his time in a better way when 
election day came round. For him the day was one of 
recreation. Such a view if generally entertained would 
wreck the state. 

The Christian citizen will pay his taxes without evasion. 
One day in conversation a professedly Christian man was 



88 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

heard to express the wish that he could find some way to 
evade the payment of his taxes. He was a man who had 
prospered abundantly. The state had given him the se- 
curity and freedom within which he had achieved his pros- 
perity. He seemed to see no obligation to the state in 
return. The costs of government are great, and the right- 
minded citizen will want to contribute his just share. 

2. Support righteous officials. — He will give support to 
ofiiceholders who are trying to do that which is right. 
There is a vast amount of abuse of public officials and all 
too little commendation. Christians often forget how 
much more quickly the rule of God would come among men 
if they would heartily back up the public servants who are 
standing for right things. 

The men^s club of a strong city church invited as the 
guest of honor a man v/ho had just been elected to a very 
important office in the city government. He made almost 
his first public pronouncement after election on that occa- 
sion. When made to feel that he could count upon that 
group for support he at once took a stand for right in the 
administration of the affairs of his office. On another 
occasion an officeholder bitterely complained because the 
right-minded people who wanted him to follow a certain 
course gave him no tangible support. The member of a 
State Legislature was heard to remark that the church 
people could have what they wanted if only they would 
get together and support the men who wanted to promote 
the things in which they were interested. 

3. Engage in public service. — The Christian citizen will 
not evade any public service for which he may be drafted. 
A group of business men spent the large part of an even- 
ing telling each other how impossible it was for any one 
of them, for business reasons, to undertake a duty greatly 
ixeeding to be performed. They may have been as busy 
as they tried to make themselves believe they were, but the 
Kingdom goes forward by the sacrifices of men who are 
willing to give time that might be spent in money-making 
or social enjoyment to unrewarding service for the common 
good. 

The Christian citizen will be swayed by ethical considera- 



POLITICAL EESEONSIBILITY 89 

tions. The good of the community will be his objective. 
That which hurts the common life is bad ; that which helps 
the common life is good. This principle will be applied 
by him in considering men and measures. 

Questions for Discussion 

1. Wliy do men think the Christian has no business 
in politics ? 

2. Would you care to live in a community where that 
view was general? 

3. Why do so many persons evade political issues and 
duties ? 

4. Give instances of the deep interest taken by Jesus in 
the common affairs of daily life. 

5. Does a truly Christian man or woman have any chance 
in politics ? 

6. Is there any real chance of the growth of the rule 
of Christ in the earth apart from the political action of 
Christian people? 

7. What have you done to back up the righteous efforts 
of faithful public servants ? 



CHAPTEE X 

THE CHEISTIAN AND WORLD PEOGRESS 

For reference and study : Isa. 2. 2-4; 42. 1-4; 49. 6; 
50. 4-9; 52. 13; 53. 12; 61. 1-3; Matt. 13. 31-33. 

The world is moving toward better conditions. Pro- 
gress is real. It may not always be measured from year to 
year; but if the centuries are considered, progress is evi- 
dent. It is true that new evils appear. Old wrongs are 
corrected only to make way for new iniquities. But ideal- 
ism grows, and the determination to push forward the 
highest welfare of our humankind becomes stronger with 
the passing of time. 

There is a fine vision of optimism in the writings of the 
Old Testament prophets. The book of Isaiah is especially 
marked by this spirit. The writer believed firmly in the 
triumph of justice, in the removal of all oppressions. The 
reign of peace was to be established in the earth through 
the instrumentality of the Anointed of Jehovah. One of 
the most splendid utterances is Isa. 42. 1-4. 

The New Testament catches up this note. Jews and 
Gentiles are to move forward toward a world order in 
which the ideals of truth, justice, and peace are to be ex- 
alted. The shoot is to grow until the branches of the tree 
offer a hospitable shelter to the birds of the air. The 
leaven is to permeate the whole mass (Matt. 13. 31-33). 

To question the reality of progress is to take an attitude 
toward affairs which is non-Christian if not anti- Christian. 
To insist that progress shall move in the direction of 
Christian goals is to work in harmony with the concep- 
tion of the world-wide reign of God. 

Factors Making foe World Progress 

1. Commerce. — It is inspiring simply to notice some of 
the factors working toward a better world. Commerce may 

90 



WOELD PEOGRESS 91 

be mentioned. The buying and selling of goods bring 
those who are parties to the operation into closer relations 
with each other, thus tending toward better understand- 
ing. Walls of exclusion, whether erected in the name of 
tariff or political considerations, should be built with ut- 
most care. It is important to consider not only what we 
shut in but what we shut out. If we cut ourselves off from 
free intercourse with other peoples, we are preventing a 
powerful factor of progress from operating for the benefit 
of mankind. 

Consider where the articles of food and clothing used by 
you in a single day have come from. Then think of the 
way in which the commerce necessary to bring those 
articles within your reach has contributed toward a better 
understanding of the countries from which they have come 
and a closer sympathy among the men who have been 
engaged in that process. 

Most of the racial hatreds out of which hurtful mis- 
understanding and war have come may be traced to a 
lack of acquaintance and sympathy on the part of groups 
of people separated by natural or artificial barriers. Com- 
merce helps to level these barriers. It promotes an order 
of life in which good will and peace may more easily 
predominate. 

2. Industry. — This is so closely related to commerce that 
it needs only a single further word. But when we remem- 
ber that the great majority of men and women in every 
county is composed of manual workers we understand 
how powerful is any activity or interest that helps to 
draw them more closely together. Industry in all lands 
and among all peoples leads men and women the world 
over to see that their aims and interests lie along the way 
of mutual understanding and cooperation. Industry helps 
the workers of England to understand the manual workers 
of America, and the workers of America to realize that 
there are strong ties binding them to the workers of France. 

Anything that promotes a sense of the solidarity of the 
human family ordinarily makes for human progress. 

3. Development of natural resources. — Just now there 
is a great struggle for the possession of some of the most 



92 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

valuable natural deposits in Europe. On this side of the 
water many eyes are turned toward Mexico. Silesia is a 
very rich field for the development of natural resources. 
It is not diflficult to understand why men should naturally 
struggle for the possession of these resources when we con- 
sider how much the upkeep of our civilization is dependent 
on them. What would become of civilization without the 
coal and iron, the copper, oil, and gold? 

In our own country we have seen great stretches of bar- 
ren country turned into rich farms and fertile gardens 
by the harnessing of the natural resources so freely be- 
stowed by Grod upon men. Great dams and waterways have 
been constructed. Irrigation schemes of great magnitude 
have been carried forward. Lands have been redeemed from 
barrenness. Human good has been greatly increased. 

Some of the great discoveries of the future will lie along 
the way of the further development and use of the natural 
resources of air and earth. It seems an idle dream to 
suggest the harnessing of the winds and tides and the belt- 
ing of their mighty energies to the wheels of progress, but 
scientists and other practical experimenters are working 
patiently and unceasingly, and great gains may be confi- 
dently predicted. 

The discovery of one oil well in Texas placed a great 
income at the service of a church. Be it said to the credit 
of those concerned, this unexpected wealth was directed 
toward the progress of Christian work. Here is a striking 
illustration of the way the development of natural re- 
sources contributed to the Kingdom. The connection is 
not always so evident. 

4. Transportation. — Think of the times of Jesus and of 
the difficulty that men had in going from place to place. 
Even then, had it not been for the fine roads of the Eoman 
Empire, the gospel would have gone forth very slowly into 
that comparatively small world. But to-day, with air- 
planes and automobiles, railroads and steamships, how 
quickly one part of the world is brought into connection 
with every other part! A great modern newspaper pub- 
lishes from week to week a list of its agencies. Hardly 
an important section of the habitable globe is overlooked. 



WOELD PROGEESS 93 

And the bodies and commerce of men are transported al- 
most as easily and quickly as their ideas. 

It cannot be too often stressed that men must know 
each other if they are to live in harmonious relations. 
Suspicion, mistrust, and even hatred flourish in the soil of 
ignorance. Just to visit another section of your own 
State is to gain an enlarged understanding of life. But 
to be able to go from part to part of the nation and the 
world is to gain many of the advantages of contact and 
association which even a liberal education in the schools 
could not import. 

If it is true that the automobile has helped to ^^depopu- 
late^^ some of the congregations of our city churches, it 
has brought new life and enterprise to many rural and 
country churches by making it possible for the people to get 
back and forth easily and with little loss of time. 

5. International politics. — For many months the mind 
of America has been agitated by the question of our poli- 
tical relationship to the rest of the civilized world. This 
is not the place to present the question of a league or 
association of nations. But the very fact that the minds of 
our people and the minds of the people of Europe have 
been considering such a question proves that we are inter- 
related to-day as never before in human history. 

The rise and fall of governments, the coming and going 
of presidents and kings, democracy and monarchy, free 
trade and protection, — all such matters have become of 
concern not only to the country directly involved, but to the 
world. A speech in our Senate may have as profound an 
effect beyond the seas as in our own country. A decision 
of the Supreme Court may have a bearing upon inter- 
national questions of greatest importance. 

Here again we have a powerful factor of progress at 
work in the common life of the time. We are all deeply 
affected by the political organization under which we live. 
The disappearance of some of the selfish considerations 
that have so often moved men, such as ^^My country right 
or wrong,^^ provided there is enough of armed force to 
back up its position, helps to set forward the life of all 
peoples. 



94 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

6. Missionary enterprise. — Even according to the testi- 
mony of critics missionary enterprise has been of incalcu- 
lable benefit to the progress of the world. An evidence of 
this is the honors bestowed by non-Christian governments 
and peoples upon faithful and efficient missionaries. 

While it has always been the aim of the missionaries to 
proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the souls of men, 
that aim has been interpreted in the light of all that a 
full statement of the gospel implies. Minds and bodies 
are so closely knit together that one may not be over- 
looked except to the hurt of the other. 

Think of a Christian hospital in a non-Christian land 
simply as a factor of progress. Think of a great Christian 
school or college. 

It is not surprising to learn that the age-long customs 
of backward peoples have been changed overnight, and that 
missionaries themselves have found it quite impossible to 
keep up with the demands made upon them by the rapidity 
of the growth of the souls of the people to whom they have 
ministered. 

In one Eastern city a Christian work for all the people 
of the neighborhood has proved to be a civilizing force 
great beyond all measure. This is freely recognized by the 
authorities, many of whom are not commonly supposed 
to be in sympathy with the Christian purpose underlying 
the work. 

7. Science and education. — These have contributed 
greatly to the progress of the world. The story of the ad- 
vance of science reads like a fairy tale. While the develop- 
ment of education has not been attended by such striking- 
results, its remarkable achievements make an interesting 
chapter in the progress of humanity. 

One practical adaptation of scientific discovery, such as 
the telephone, has made a contribution to progress touching 
every field of human activity. The dissemination of com- 
mon knowledge in the elementary schools and the extended 
course of the higher schools and colleges places the key of 
the future in the hands of those using these wonderful 
opportunities. To read the life story of Booker T. Wash- 
ington is to be impressed with the inspiring power of edu- 



WOELD PEOGRESS 95 

cation, not only to awaken the soul of an individual but 
to exert a molding influence upon the soul of a people. 

Progress CHRiSTiA:Nr or Non-Christian ? 

1. Direction of progress. — But what direction is pro- 
gress taking? And how much of the total life of an in- 
dividual and a people does it embrace? These are ines- 
capable questions. That progress is being made from 
decade to decade in all the fields of material achievement 
and mechanical art and invention no one can deny. But 
toward what is it tending ? That great scientific and edu- 
cational gains have been made is plain. But what about 
the inner life of the people ? 

A thoughtful student of aJffairs recently uttered the 
opinion that progress was all on the outer side of life, 
that it did not touch the natures of mem We may be 
going, and going faster than ever before, but where are 
we going? One of the popular songs of the war indicates 
that the boys of the army used to ask a similar question. 
It is a good one to ask with regard to either trifling or 
inomentous affairs. 

There are at least two views of progress which we should 
have before our minds. One of them emphasizes the im- 
portance of material things to the comparative neglect of 
spiritual considerations; the other emphasizes the prime 
importance of moral and spiritual values and places much 
less emphasis upon material gains. The first of these is 
non- Christian, not necessarily anti-Christian ; the second is 
Christian. 

2. Purpose and ideals.— We have enumerated a long list 
of factors contributing to the progress of civilization ; but 
it by no means foUov/s that this progress will of necessity 
take the direction of a Christian civilization. Commerce, 
industry, political relationships are very real factors in the 
everyday life of men. They have it in their power not 
only to increase the sum of material good in the world, 
but to give humanity a distinct impetus toward a thor- 
oughly Christian type of civilization. Whether or not they 
do this depends on the purposes and the ideals of the men 



96 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

and women who are living at a given period of the 
world^s history. If commerce is concerned solely with 
dollars and goods and thinks little, if at all, of the human 
values involved, it misses the way of highest progress. If 
international politics considers only the material advan- 
tage of one racial or national group to the neglect of the 
other groups involved, it adds to the confusion and diffi- 
culty of life for the citizens of all countries and utterly 
fails to promote the rule of God in the earth. 

We have been considering mighty forces holding much 
of good or evil in their operation. They may destroy the 
highest values while they increase the lower values. They 
may increase the wealth in goods and dollars of a people 
while they destroy the souls of men. Or they may work 
to elevate the life of a people toward noblest ideals of rela- 
tionships and service and at the same time promote their 
material well-being. 

In the field of politics think of the course followed by 
our nation in dealing with China and with Cuba. Un- 
doubtedly great gains for a civilization destined to become 
more and more truly Christian were made. The Chinese 
students educated in part by the indemnity money of the 
Boxer rebellion may well prove to be the leaven leavening 
the whole mass. 

DlEECTIlS^G PkOGKESS ToWARD CHRISTIAN EnDS 

1. Progress through effort. — Many good people in the 
world comfortably believe that progress is necessarily and 
naturally Christian. They go to sleep at night thinking 
that possibly they may wake up to find the world truly 
Christian. Just as they expect the natural forces to carry 
the world through the procession of the seasons they expect 
other natural forces at work among men to set up the rule 
of God in the earth. They point with pride to our rec- 
ords of material expansion and scientific advance and 
confidently believe that, with little or no help on their 
part, everything will grow better and better, until the 
Prince of Peace occupies the throne of the world. 

The sooner all such people are disillusioned the better. 
The solemn warnings of the Old Testament prophets, their 



WOELD PEOGEESS 97 

powerful exhortations to moral effort, need to be pondered 
in the light of present-day needs and opportunities. The 
teaching of Jesus concerning man^s own responsibility for 
his character and acts needs to be strongly emphasized. 

The first duty of the Christian is to get the viewpoint 
of the New Testament. What really constitutes progress ? 
What is the purpose of civilization? What are these 
mighty factors which enter into the life of the time sup- 
posed to be doing ? Is life or are the things of life the great 
objective? Is character or are circumstances the aim? 
If material wealth increases, does it matter what the 
social relations of individuals and nations are? To see 
the problem of progress in true Christian perspective is 
essential. Eecently a man of large affairs expressed the 
opinion that it is the first business of industry to produce 
material wealth. Another man, an authority in the prac- 
tical affairs of the world, has just given it as his opinion 
that prosperity and progress are interlocked with the moral 
and spiritual development of a people. Where do you 
stand? 

2. Every man's task. — Every person in active life has 
some personal relation to one or more of these factors of 
progress. He must do his utmost to make his own activity 
the expression of his own conviction that ideal values 
count for more than any or all others. He can himself 
put a little of the spirit of true Christian progress into 
the day^s work. He can be guided by Christian considera- 
tions as a producer, a seller, a distributer, a consumer of 
the world^s goods. 

He will realize the power of cooperative action in all such 
matters. The church group, the employers' association, the 
labor union, may be influenced in the right direction by 
the action of just such persons as himself. 

3. World outlook. — The Christian citizen will cultivate 
the world outlook. Provincialism in outlook and purpose is 
not easily overcome. Alien peoples look like enemies from a 
distance. The pressure of immediate needs and problems at 
home obscures our vision of the wider relationships of 
society. The breadth of the purpose and vision of Jesus 
must be cultivated. 



98 SOCIAL KELATIONSHIPS 

Questions fob Discussion 

1. Give one or two instances of progress made by society 
in recent years. 

2. Name the principal factors contributing to this result. 

3. If we have nothing but individual progress here and 
there, will the highest aims of society ever be reached? 
If not, why not ? 

4. Can you think of forces making for progress other 
than those named? 

5. If society goes round and round in a circle, can the 
redemptive purpose of Jesus ever be accomplished? State 
that purpose. 

6. How can the forces against progress be met and over- 
come by those who follow the lead of the Captain of salva- 
tion? 

7. Is the church doing all that it should to bring 
separated groups of people together ? If races and nations 
hold apart in mutual hostility, can we ever have the 
kingdom of God in the earth? 



CHAPTEE XI 

THE CHEISTIAN AND WOELD BEOTHEEHOOD 

For reference and study : Jonah^ chapters 3 and 4 ; Matt. 
12. 46-50; Luke 10. 25-37; John 10. 16; Acts 2. 5-42; 
10. 1-35. 

The Cheistian Ideal of World Brotherhood 

1. The Great War. — This ideal has survived the shock 
of the Great War. Before that gigantic conflict we v^ere 
in the habit of thinking and speaking as if its realization 
were just around the corner. But we had a rude awaken- 
ing. We found the difference between admiring high prin- 
ciples and ideals and "doing^^ them (see Matt. 7. 24, 25) 
not only as individuals but as nations. Perhaps we were 
too complacently devoted to the arts of material prosperity. 

However, the war has not destroyed that ideal. Indeed, 
a good many persons are coming to believe that the war 
has cleared the ground for a closer approximation to it 
than ever before. Whether this shall prove to be so largely 
rests with Christian people and those who without acknowl- 
edging the name of Christ are actuated by Christian pur- 
poses. 

The war brought to light the fact that while one great 
nation was sinning against the truth of human brotherhood 
to an immeasurable degree, other nations, which at heart 
entertained the cause of brotherhood, were not sufficiently 
active in its propagation and support. 

2. A pre-Christian missionary.— In pre-Christian times 
there is a clear glimpse of this ideal in the prophecy of 
Jonah (chapters 3 and 4). Here is a man of wide vision 
who sees the place of a people outside the pale of Israel 
in the purpose of God. Prom the viewpoint of human 
brotherhood Jonah was one of the first to proclaim the truth 
that later found so much fuller statement in the gospel of 
Jesus. Jonah did not himself maintain the high ground 

99 



100 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

which at first he took. But it is remarkable that among 
a people of such strong racial prejudices he should have 
been so much of a universalist. He saw that the mercy of 
God covered others than those of his own race, and that an 
alien people might be well worth saving. 

3. The teaching of Jesus. — The teaching of Jesus con- 
stantly overleaps all racial bounds and proclaims a saving 
truth for the nations of the earth. In Matt. 12. 46-50 he 
announces a principle of relationship on the basis of the 
loyal doing of God^s will. This obedience draws men to- 
gether in an association which suggests the closeness of a 
blood relationship. Again, when he tells the story of the 
good Samaritan (Luke 10. 25-37) he sets aside the strong- 
est racial traditions and views and holds up as an example 
to be imitated a man from an alien group especially un- 
pleasing in the eyes of the Jew. 

Paul in Athens (Acts 17. 26) sets forth a principle of 
human solidarity which must have been almost unthink- 
able to the cultured pagans whom he addressed. The 
division between the Jew and Gentile was no deeper than 
that between the Greek and barbarian. Paul calmly ig- 
nores such a view and proclaims the oneness of humanity. 

The Basis of World Brotherhood 

1. The Christian basis.— This is to be found in the teach- 
ing of the New Testament. Jesus plainly declared from 
the opening of his public ministry that he came into the 
world to establish and extend the rule of God. Men as 
men were called into the fellowship of this purpose. No 
one was ever refused on racial grounds, but Jew and Gen- 
tile were freely offered the gracious opportunities of en- 
rollment and service. 

Jesus freely recognized the ordinary patriotisms that 
bind men to the country of their birth or adoption. In the 
best sense of the word he promoted these. "Bender unto 
Caesar the things that are Cassar^s.^' But he declared the 
truth that the kingdom he came to establish overleaps all 
national barriers, all racial separations, and unites men 
in a federation of filial loyalty to God and to each other. 



WOELD BEOTHEEHOOD 101 

We find in such an utterance as that quoted from Paul 
the clearest sort of an echo of the teaching of the Master. 

When we consider the life of the earliest Christian com- 
munity we find that many persons of different racial strains 
were actually drawn together in a community that as 
closely approximated a human brotherhood as anything 
this earth has ever seen. We have a beautiful picture of 
the practice of that community in the book of Acts (2. 
5-42). 

All through the Christian centuries the voice of the 
church has been lifted in behalf of the teaching of Jesus 
and his early followers concerning world brotherhood. One 
of the greatest inspirations of the missionary enterprise has 
been the conviction that the men and women living in the 
unprivileged conditions of non-Christian lands were our 
brethren. The more vividly that human solidarity has been 
realized, the stronger has been the devotion of Christian 
people to this world-embracing task. 

2. Basis in nature. — Human nature proclaims the possi- 
bility, even the necessity, of world brotherhood. There is a 
basis for such an ideal in the constitution which makes us 
what we are. It may be affirmed with truth that there is 
just as much in unregenerate human nature to make men 
quarrel and fight over their differences as there is to sug- 
gest the reconciliation and cooperation of brotherhood; but 
that is only one side of the story. So far as we know races 
and groups have never been found which were incapable of 
making any advance toward peace and mutual understand- 
ing as soon as ideals were taught and opportunity was 
given. A striking instance may be found in the history 
of the Pilgrims and their relations with the Indians. Here 
were humans with nothing in ancestry and experience in 
common, yet from the first the red man responded to fair 
and generous treatment. He proved himself capable of 
entering into mutually helpful relations with the strange 
folk cast up on his shores. The Pilgrims never had any 
continued and serious difficulty with the Indians. For the 
most part they were guided by Christian ideals in their 
dealings with them. 

Our history affords more recent examples of those who 



103 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

were in bitter antagonism reaching a new viewpoint of 
mutual help and becoming partners in the activity neces- 
sary to the fullest development of life and society in the 
Union of the States. 

3. Basis in social need. — The requirements of human 
society to-day seeni to establish the possibility of a human 
and world-wide brotherhood. It is a law of life and growth 
that a real need always meets with a response. The needs 
of our physical and mental natures find their satisfaction 
in the world of nature and of human association. There 
is no fundamental need of our natures for which there is 
no provision in the creation within which our lives are 
set. Well, here is a fundamental need of human society. 
Law has not been sufficient to hold society together and 
prepare the way for its orderly development. When men 
are driven by their baser passions, law goes by the board, 
and even a sacred treaty becomes ^'a scrap of paper .^' Force 
is not adequate. Force may be necessary. It may play 
a great part when affairs have got so badly tangled that 
there seems to be no way of peaceful solution. But a world 
order built upon force would be a very unstable affair. 

The ideals and principles of world brotherhood yet re- 
main to be tried. The ideal subdues and controls the souls 
of men. The principle guides their action among them- 
selves and in the larger groupings of society. This in every 
instance presupposes the voluntary consent on the part of 
those following the ideal and obeying the principle. And 
there is enough slumbering idealism in the hearts of men 
now, enough real devotion to principles of human under- 
standing and cooperation to make a distinct advance 
toward that better order of human society which indicates 
an approach to the realization of the ideals of world broth- 
erhood. 

The vast need of the world is an eloquent declaration of 
the fact that brotherhood may be established in something 
more than sentiment and name. 

Factors Making for International Good Will 

Anything that helps us to see how much all the peoples 
of the earth have in common, anything that helps us to 



WOELD BEOTHEEHOOD 103 

understand each other, may become a factor making for in- 
ternational good will. 

1. International interests. — Many of the most important 
interests of the day are already organized on an inter- 
national basis. Commerce, in its varions forms, and labor 
have pioneered the way. Sports have not been far behind. 
International meetings and meets are now the order of the 
day. The man who wins signal honors in his own country 
is speedily challenged to defend his title against a foreign 
competitor. 

The peace league among the churches of the world, the 
international court at The Hague, indicate how far men 
have gone in their efforts to promote a good will which 
shall girdle the earth. Ecumenical conferences and coun- 
cils proclaim the solidarity of our interests. 

In this general connection the work of the Student Vol- 
unteer Movement should be especially noted. The colleges 
and universities of the world have met in the lives of the 
finest young men and women, who, under the inspiration 
of that movement, have volunteered for service under the 
all-embracing flag of the cross of Christ. 

2. Interchange of teachers and students. — The inter- 
change of teachers on the part of the leading universities of 
America and Europe promotes international good will. 
Those who have gone out from our own shores have 
worthily represented the mind and heart of our land. They 
have corrected false views and impressions gained from 
contact with other citizens who have been actuated by very 
different desires. And we too have learned to look differ- 
ently upon some of our relatives beyond the seas after one 
of their number has come among us to open up intel- 
lectual and spiritual treasures. When recently a noted 
surgeon from Vienna performed a series of operations upon 
children who had never walked and gave them the oppor- 
tunity of entering into a new life he not only performed a 
great human deed but he did much to help us see the 
beauty of service unconfined by narrow bounds. 

Groups of students from the East have been trained in 
our schools and colleges, and students from our land have 
enjoyed similar opportunities in Europe. Eepresentatives 



104 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

of such groups from time to time appeared before a group 
of ministers in our Eastern metropolis for the purpose of 
interpreting to them the real ideals of the peoples from 
whom they were sprung. 

3. War relief. — -The terrible devastation of the war has 
called out a response in men, money, and other gifts un- 
paralleled in human history. Fathers and mothers and 
children who perhaps were unable to understand the ora- 
tory of statesmen perfectly understood the love and kind- 
ness that intervened between them and death by starvation 
and exposure. 

Eed Cross nurses and chaplains, representatives of the 
mission boards of the various churches, have sown the seeds 
of mutual understanding and good will over a vast terri- 
tory. An abundant harvest is sure to follow. It may easily 
be the case that in some future time some one who gained 
his first true impression of this great land and people 
from such ministry will, from some high position of power 
and influence, shape affairs in harmony with the ideals 
of world brotherhood, because that ideal was first inter- 
preted to him in Jesus^ own way of feeding the hungry and 
clothing the naked. 

4. The missionary enterprise. — The missionary activity 
of the churches has been a tremendous factor in this field. 
That activity is now, through our Centenary movement, 
taking on new life. Many of the ablest of the young men 
and women of our churches and colleges are offering them- 
selves for some form of life service. Think of the oppor- 
tunity of such workers to promote the cause of world peace 
and brotherhood. 

They are stepping forth into the line of a noble succes- 
sion. The war came not because the heralds of the cross 
had been untrue to their task, but because the rest of the 
world was not yet ready to accept the principles of the 
Christ they proclaimed. An unparalleled opportunity now 
awaits the new recruits for this service. Our President 
is nobly declaring to the young men graduated from the 
naval school at Annapolis that he hopes they will never 
be compelled to fire a gun. This expresses the desire 
of every person who believes in the Christian message of 



WOELD BEOTHEEHOOD 105 

right human relationships. What a chance to help make 
that desire come true is given to every life undertaking 
the great task of instructing untutored minds in the way of 
Christ and helping to show more advanced minds the 
workableness of the plan of Jesus for the redemption of 
human society ! 

Possible Individual Contributions 

1. The fraternal spirit. — The individual must first seek 
the fraternal spirit. In a world of sharp conflict this is not 
so easy to do. We look off toward remote conditions and 
peoples and think how easy it would be to establish the fra- 
ternal life in such an environment, but often miserably fail 
when the opportunity lies at our very door. The fact is 
that large numbers of persons who praise fraternity and 
speak in glowing terms of world brotherhood do not them- 
selves possess the fraternal spirit. 

Every day we hear certain members of our community 
spoken of in a way that demeans the speaker and casts 
an unpleasant reflection upon those referred to. It is 
difficult for the average person to take the fraternal atti- 
tude toward persons of different social standing, different 
color of skin and racial lineage. Much of the bad feeling 
that exists in some communities, and which finds some 
reflection in all our minds, has no deeper basis than these 
superficial considerations. A man was recently heard to 
condemn a whole race because he had had an unpleasant 
experience with one single representative. The pastor of 
a church confessed that he had advised a prospective mem- 
ber of alien race to connect himself elsewhere because of 
the absence of that fraternal spirit which would rise above 
racial prejudice. 

2. Interchurch fraternalism. — The individual may pro- 
mote the spirit of brotherhood among the groups that al- 
ready have the greatest number of interests in common. 
Why should not our churches move into closer relation- 
ships? Why should not Christian organizations and asso- 
ciations begin to give to the world a clearer example of 
what brotherhood means and stands for ? Some good per- 
sons seem to think that the reason for different denomina- 



106 SOCIAL KELATIONSHIPS 

tions is the promotion of denominational rivalry. We have 
heard of the man who when asked as to the condition of 
his church replied that it was not very flourishing; but 
he added that he thanked God that the condition of the 
five rival churches of his community was no better. This 
may be a caricature, but there is enough in common 
thought to give it point. 

In a recent conference of Christian workers in one of the 
prominent communities of the land the pastors and lay- 
men representing the different denominations constantly 
emphasized the fact that the individual church owed some- 
thing to the community which could not be paid by any 
measure of isolated success. That spirit is increasing. It 
indicates that true fraternity is pervading the Christian 
groups, and that the beginnings of brotherhood among 
such groups are already well advanced. 

The individual must connect with some agency in his 
community or his wider environment standing avowedly 
for the purpose of helping to create world brotherhood. 
The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America 
is such an agency. This is not the only purpose for which 
it exists, but it does exert a great influence in favor of such 
an aim. Working alone, no matter how good his intentions, 
how constant his effort, he would accomplish little. Join- 
ing himself to a movement wide in scope and strong in 
influence, he multiplies the effect of his own loyalty to a 
great ideal. 

The local church as an organization should support such 
an agency. Sometimes strong opposition to such an align- 
ment is to be met. But usually to-day the saner counsel 
will prevail, and the church will be led to take a broader 
and worthier relationship to human society as a whole. 

3. Economic principles. — The individual must support 
such economic principles as favor world brotherhood. In 
this field to-day there is a great variety of opinion and prac- 
tice. But it is well to remember that society never goes 
back; it always moves forward. The real question before 
us is not whether we shall return to theories and prac- 
tices that have been passed by in the development of society. 
The question is. Among these contending theories and 



WOELD BEOTHEEHOOD 107 

practices which of them make for the peace and prosperity 
of the world according to the Christian ideal of things ? 

Selfishness in any form, no matter what may be its im- 
mediate return, is against the spirit of true fraternity. It 
makes for the undoing of the work of Christ as the Ee- 
deemer of men. 

4. Broad-minded leaders. — The individual must support 
political leaders and policies broad enough and f ar-visioned 
enough to envisage world brotherhood as the end to be 
reached. Much of our political thinking is done for us. 
We have only a small part in directly influencing the prac- 
tice and policy of our nation. But we are favored in that 
we have some political leaders who see the larger goals of 
human effort. They do not overlook and discount matters 
of local and immediate concern. But they see beyond these 
to the larger interests of humanity. They are worthy of 
the support of Christian men and women. There is a 
special obligation upon the women of America, the new 
voters, those about to be. The coming generations will 
settle many issues now very confused and confusing. 
Christian influence never counted for more, far and near, 
in the affairs of the world. 

Questions for Discussion 

1. Do men very generally regard the teaching of the 
prophets and of Jesus regarding human fellowship as so 
much poetry incapable of realization? Why? 

2. In your opinion has the war advanced or retarded 
this ideal ? 

3. When personal prejudices are involved is it possible 
to rise above them and practice the ideals of Jesus ? 

4. What progress has been made in our own country 
toward removing racial antagonisms? 

5. Name some factors working against those considered 
in the text as making for international good will. 

6. How may the church exert more influence than any 
other agency toward the realization of this ideal ? 

7. If materialism or militarism wins out in the future 
policy and practice of our own people, what is likely to 
happen to the ideal of world-wide brotherhood ? 



CHAPTEE XII 

THE CHKISTIAN AND THE EFFICIENT CHUECH 

For references and study: Matt. 16. 13-28; 18. 5-10; 
Luke 4. 16-21; 1 Cor. 1 and 2; Phil. 2. 12-18; Eev. 2. 1- 
3; 22. 

What Should the Church Do? 

Outwardly the church is an organization. It is com- 
posed of those who confess the Saviourhood and Lord- 
ship of Christ and desire to see his purpose set forward 
in the world. Whether or not it is efficient will be deter- 
mined accordingly. The church is to do something. If it 
does it well^ it is efficient; if poorly or not at all, it is 
inefficient, and nothing will make up for its fatal lack in 
this respect. 

When we consider the other organizations and institu- 
tions of society we see that they should be doing some- 
thing. We judge them accordingly. If a school or college 
had magnificent buildings and fine equipment but failed 
to do the real business for which it exists, it would be 
counted a failure. The buildings and equipment might be 
relatively poor, but the school might be a great and lasting 
success. A hospital must minister to the sick. A fire- 
engine company must prevent the town from burning up. 
The church too has a job — more important than that of 
any other single organization. What is it? To answer 
that question correctly as far as we go is now our aim. 

1. Worship. — Clearly it is the business of the church to 
provide the facilities of worship and to train the people 
in their use. The first emphasis falls here. No matter 
how important some other part of the task of the church 
may be, this one will always come first. 

There must be a place in society where men, women, and 
children have the opportunity of approacliing and fellow- 
shiping with God as nowhere else. This they must do 
collectively. 

108 



THE EFFICIENT CHUECH 109 

We are always meeting the man who tells us that he 
can worship God better in the open spaces, under glorious 
skies, than in any "house made with hands/^ But as a 
matter of fact he seldom does this thing, whether or not 
we admit the truth of his assertion. At any rate he misses 
the contact with his fellow men in worship which is one of 
its essential privileges and requirements. 

In Luke 4. 16-21 we have an account of what Jesus 
did and said as a worshiper. If he needed the privileges of 
the synagogue for the development of his spiritual life 
and the expression of one side of his nature, surely we 
have that need. 

Here is the first measure of the efficient church : Does it 
help the persons who enter it to worship God — the God 
and Father revealed in Christ? 

2. Preaching of the truth.— The church must maintain 
a preaching ministry. The course of Jesus just referred 
to is instructive at this point. He was moved to utter a 
message to his fellow worshipers. And the church with- 
out a living message is indeed dead. The question of its 
efficiency cannot even be raised. 

We may know as much as the preacher, or think we do, 
we may pride ourselves upon our knowledge of the gospel 
message ; but the fact is that we need, and other per- 
sons need, from time to time and after the lapse of regular 
intervals, to be brought face to face with the claims of the 
Christian gospel. 

To-day the church needs especially to emphasize the 
preaching aspect of its work. And this because our time 
greatly needs to hear the message of truly prophetic voices. 
With the principles of the gospel of Jesus the average per- 
son in a Christian community may be fairly familiar. But 
the application of these principles varies from age to age. 
And just as the prophets of ancient Israel instructed the 
people in the application of the principles and ideals of 
their religion to the life of their time, so do we need the 
ministry of prophetic voices to teach us the application 
of the more searching principles and ideals of Jesus to our 
time. 

Pause a moment to think of one or two big modern ques- 



110 SOCIAL KELATIONSHIPS 

tions that have come before the minds of men in a new 
way during the last five years. Is it not the task of a 
true prophet of God to help us all to see what the gospel 
of Jesus requires of us as we seek to apply it to such ques- 
tions and the conditions out of which those questions have 
come? 

3. TeacMng. — The church must teach. In Matt. 18. 
5-10 we have pointed out to us our duty toward those who 
are immature and inexperienced in the faith. And whether 
these be actually children in years or children in develop- 
ment, the duty remains the same. When Jesus gave his 
great commission to his disciples, they were told that they 
must "teach.^^ 

Perhaps we have somewhat neglected this aspect of our 
task, although it is to be remembered that no department 
of our church life has made greater progress within the 
past few years. 

The church school occupies a unique place in the present- 
day organization and program of a live church. We are all 
learning that it is just as important to plant seed truths at 
the right time in the soil of the mind as to plant our gar- 
dens and fields at the right time if we expect a harvest. 

The demand for competent leaders in this field of church 
work far outruns the supply to-day. This is a very good 
sign of the awakening of the church to this large oppor- 
tunity. 

4, Recreation. — This also must have its place in the 
program of the church. Jesus had little to say upon this 
topic, probably because the conditions of life did not give 
it the importance that it has to-day. The folk he addressed 
lived in the open. They did not toil for long hours in 
shops and factories. They were not shut up within the 
walls of great office buildings. They did not know the kill- 
ing strain and fatigue of work as many living to-day. Life 
then was simpler, its conditions were not so exhausting. 
But Jesus recognized the place of recreation when he called 
his disciples apart into a place remote from lifers activity, 
that they might rest. He was an honored guest at more 
than one feast. 

Our own church at its last General Conference recog- 



THE EFFICIENT CHURCH 111 

nized the importance of this feature of our program by 
providing for a director of social and recreational life in 
those churches desiring such an arrangement. This is 
good. It insists that the Christian is to be a normal 
person with normal enjoyments and interests. It means 
that in our judgments and practice we must discriminate 
between the good and the evil. It acknowledges that use, 
and not abuse, is the secret of a Christian program of 
recreation. 

5. Service. — It is the business of the church to serve. 
And it needs to be remembered to-day, when we hear so 
many critical voices asking whether the church is doing 
anything in the world, that the church has always acknowl- 
edged this part of its mission. From the day that Jesus 
called his first disciple into his fellowship, or, to move a 
little farther down the years, from the day that the first 
company of Christian believers organized themselves into 
a fellowship of faith human service has been the order of 
things. When we say that the church has not done what 
it should, that it is not to-day meeting all its obligations 
to society as it should, we must not overlook all that has 
been done. The church has always been in the world as 
the servant of humanity. 

One of the best things of the time is the growth of the 
vision of service. Such a movement as the Centenary 
would have been impossible if social-mindedness on the 
part of the people were not increasing. Such an offering 
of young life for the service of the Kingdom as we have 
most recently seen would have been out of the question if 
Jesus' ideals of living for others had not taken hold of 
great numbers of minds. 

Some think this duty of service may come to be over- 
emphasized. But this cannot happen if the other items in 
the program of the efficient church are given their due 
place. The danger is still on the other side. 

Meeting These Eequirements 

We may now have before us some idea of what the church 
must be and must be doing if it is to merit the judgment 
of efficiency. 



112 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

1. Application of the standard. — ^We must be careful in 

applying this standard of measurement. One Sunday af- 
ternoon, in a little white schoolhouse hidden away in the 
forest bordering a great lake, a group of four or five 
adults and perhaps twice as many children demonstrated 
that efficiency is not merely a question of buildings, pro- 
gram, and staif of workers. The standard that we have 
found must be applied to churches in the light of their 
opportunity. A church of small numbers and few facili- 
ties should never become discouraged because it cannot do 
all that someone writing from a distance may suggest. 
But a church with large opportunities and ample facilities 
should feel a sense of shame and shortcoming if it is mak- 
ing no real effort to organize and conduct its work on the 
highest possible level of productiveness. 

One small church in a great city made truly heroic efforts 
to provide its young people with the most meager kind of 
social facilities. At the same time a much stronger church 
less than two miles distant was dwindling in membership 
and activity because it was making no real effort to adapt 
its service to changing conditions. Which of these churches 
was the more efficient ? 

2. What is the answer ? — ^With such qualifications as we 
noted we should make a thorough application of such a 
standard of efficiency to the church with which we happen 
to be associated. Worship and preaching are undoubtedly 
emphasized as they should be. But is the worship worship- 
ful? And what constitutes the difference? A worshiper 
recently remarked that in his church there was so much 
noise and confusion that there was little to bring the soul 
into closer fellowship with the unseen realities. Is the 
preaching touched with the prophetic quality ? If not, is 
it the fault of the preacher or the congregation? Some 
congregations, under the plea that nothing but the simple 
gospel be preached, very ^^efficiently^^ stifle any tendency 
in that direction. And this often means the particular 
views of the man who happens to make the demand. 

When we think of education and recreation how do mat- 
ters stand? To fail to attempt anything because every- 
thing cannot be done is to invite stagnation. The condi- 



THE EFFICIENT CHUECH 113 

tions do not exist in which something may not be done to 
help the church to square with this part of its task. The 
danger is that some very good people may not realize how 
important it is that the church to-day should engage in 
such work. With that danger out of the way progress can 
always be made. 

How many enterprises — ^far-distant, it may be, or in 
your own community — would feel a sense of loss if your 
church should close its doors? Service in the direction 
pointed out to us by the official organizations of the 
church is given. And this is as it should be. But unless 
there is some close and vital contact with human needs very 
near home, something is missing from the program of the 
truly efficient church. A philanthropic agency in a cer- 
tain city received an unsolicited check from one of the 
churches. The treasurer of the board telephoned the min- 
ister to know if some mistake had not been made. He 
said that it was the first time in his experience that any- 
thing of the sort had happened. That particular church 
did not make the contribution out of its "superfluity.^' 

What May We Do? 

The only embarrassment in answering this question is to 
keep the answer within bounds. There is so much that may 
be done. Some of us do not realize how deeply human 
society needs the church to-day. We have the notion that 
organizations have been duplicated until in the average 
community there is no place for the church to take hold. 

1. Right perspective. — The first thing to be done is to 
get the right perspective. A large part of the work of other 
organizations would not be done at all if it were not for 
the churches. Eesults in many instances would come to 
nothing were it not for the continuous ministry of the 
church. One campaign for a large sum of money revealed 
the fact that more than 70 per cent of the fund had been 
contributed by church members. An important philan- 
thropy of wide reach in its service recently appealed to the 
ministers of a certain city to back it up as never before. 
The representative stated that there were no other per- 
sons in the community, except the church people, who were 



114 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

capable of 'Tiolding on^^ until the job was done. Never 
was the church more essential to society. But the essen- 
tial church is the efficient church. 

2. Right attitude. — Help to create the right attitude in 
your own church toward the full program of an efficient 
organization. Oftentimes one or two tactful leaders can 
change the attitude of a church group. A group of young 
men met and decided that they would present in writing 
to the official group of the church a statement of what they 
thought the church should undertake in the way of an 
enlarged recreational program. They indicated how they 
were willing to cooperate. Their action was the beginning 
of better things. 

Above all try to see clearly yourself and then help others 
to see that the church is not a narrow sectarian institution 
existing for any narrowly denominational aim, but that it 
is God^s chief agency for the building of the kingdom of 
Jesus Christ in the earth. Nothing that really helps to 
lift things just a little toward the level of a redeemed 
society is foreign to the program of the church. Both the 
individual and the wider society of which he is a part 
must have due consideration in the activity of every 
Christian group. 

3. Cominunity contacts. — Then consider the commxmity. 
Every time a point of contact between the church and the 
community is established, there is just so much more 
chance of doing effectively the work for which the church 
exists. We have many such points of contact to-day, but 
they need to be multiplied. Changing conditions greatly 
affect the home and family life of great numbers. Study 
out ways and means of connecting with those who have 
recently come into your community. 

Link up with just as many agencies of the right sort as 
possible. Some persons are afraid to cooperate with an- 
other church in doing a good piece of work, and to some 
others all social agencies are anathema. But the key- 
note of the time is mutual understanding and cooperation. 
Many of our tasks are so big that we cannot undertake 
them successfully alone. 

Discover some one definite piece of Christian work for 



THE EFFICIENT CHURCH 115 

which you assume a special responsibility. One group of 
young persons became really interested in a fresh-air 
home. Before, it had been only a name. In one year their 
contributions increased many times over. They came to 
feel that a part of the failure or success of that work was 
chargeable to them. 

Do every legitimate thing to foster cooperation between 
the churches. In some communities church inefficiency 
may be traced directly to the competition of the churches. 
That sort of thing helps to defeat the purpose for which 
the church exists. The denomination that does most to 
foster the spirit of mutual respect and cooperation has the 
key to the future. The world is moving in that direction. 

4. Civic responsibility. — The church must look beyond 
its community. It is and must be one of the chief agencies 
serving the highest interests of the State. If the com- 
munity in which you live is a favored one, you may be 
inclined to forget that other comimunities are less favored. 
Because there is no immediate problem or opportunity in 
your neighborhood (although this is seldom if ever the 
case), it does not follow that your church has no particular 
social obligation. 

Often the churches of a given community need the back- 
ing of public opinion of other parts of the State to accom- 
plish some result that ultimately benefits all. If all respon- 
sibility for bringing the pressure of Christian opinion to 
bear upon the Legislature of a State is turned over to the 
churches of the community within which the Legislature 
happens to meet, not much will be accomplished. A unified 
Christian demand will work wonders. 

Many reform and humanitarian movements are to-day 
organized on a State basis. The church in the smallest 
community needs a vision broad enough to see its own 
vital relation to such movements. It is all too easy to shift 
heavy responsibilities to those who seem to be nearer 
to them. 

5. World service. — Eecent developments have brought 
the whole world before our minds. We realize as never be- 
fore that we do not and cannot live unto ourselves. In wor- 
ship, in education, in service, the church with the smallest 



116 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

resources is really touching world problems and helping to 
mold world conditions into conformity with the high pur- 
pose of the redeeming Christ. 

Missionary endeavor of all kinds to-day emphasizes the 
fact that we are trying to share our best with the least 
privileged of God.'s children. 

Questions pok Discussion 

1. Is it right or wrong to apply the standard of "effi- 
ciency^^ to such a spiritual agency as the church? 

2. Do Christian people very generally have a clear idea 
of what the church ought to be doing beyond maintaining 
its own services? 

3. Name other essential activities of the efficient church 
which are not stressed in the text. 

4. Is the average church living up to its opportunity? 
If not, why not ? 

5. Do the young people of your church realize how 
much they may contribute toward the efficiency of its real 
work ? If not, how will you explain this ? 

6. Is there a smaller or larger place than ever before in 
society for the church that is alive and is doing the work 
of Christ? 

7. How may some of the commonest hindrances to effi- 
ciency be removed ? 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE KINGDOM OP GOD A PEACTICAL IDEAL 

For reference and study: Matt. 5. 1-9; 28; 13. 1-52; 
Acts 1. 6-8; Eph. 6. 10-20. 

Jesus' Ideal of the Kingdom 

This in its main outline is not hard to discover if we 
turn to his teaching. There was no one subject upon which 
he had so much to say. Directly and indirectly the King- 
dom was his constant theme. 

1. Qualities of character. — In Matt. 5. 1-9 we have a 
list of the qualities of character which make men fit mem- 
bers of this kingdom. Purity, mercy, love of justice and 
peace, — these are outstanding. Are they the sort of quali- 
ties that men generally are most eager to make their own ? 
On the other hand, do not the characters that impress you 
as strongest and most serviceful always embody them? 
Can you think of any type of life fit for citizenship among 
men, fit for the kingdom of eternal life, if it does not in- 
clude such qualities? They are not all that need to be 
cultivated but they are all essential. 

In other places in the teaching of Jesus we have a pre- 
sentation of other qualities that the men and women of 
the Kingdom must embody. There must be love for and 
obedience to the truth, willingness to sacrifice, heart sor- 
row for sin and wrongdoing, earnestness in the endeavor 
to make right the wrongs we have done, and an uncom- 
promising purpose to follow the path of goodness. Faith, 
hope, love, — these three, with strong emphasis upon the 
greatest of them. 

Even such a brief glance toward the ideal of Jesus for 
the characters of those who constitute the membership of 
his kingdom must show us how broad, strong, and varied 
the Christian type of life is. Life ideals as found in the 

117 



118 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

message of Jesus are never narrow and dwarfing, but just 
the reverse. 

Self-denial, and even asceticism of a rational type, have 
their place; but they do not stand in their own name and 
right. They are means to an end — ^the bringing of our 
personal powers and appetites into the service of the ideal 
Christian character. 

Perversions and distortions of the teaching of Jesus at 
this point have driven many away from his fellowship. 
They have been made to see a Christ who does not exist 
and a type of life to which he never called any one. The 
correction for this sort of thing is the closer study of his 
own words and life. 

3. A Christian social order. — But this ideal is concerned 
with more than the individual. It embraces the individual 
in right relations with God and man. Jesus aims at a 
Christian society. He proclaims the possibility of an order 
of living in which not only one man here and another 
there shall be established in these right relations, but all 
men everywhere shall be thus established. The rule of God 
shall extend over the whole field of human life and affairs. 
Love is the law of this rule. 

A redeemed individual and a redeemed society suggest 
to us the scope of the ideal of Jesus for us and our world. 

Matt. 13. 1-52 gives us many a suggestion of the way 
in which this ideal of Jesus is to be worked out in human 
society. It is like the growth of the abundant harvest from 
the sowing of the good seed. The leaven is to leaven the 
whole lump. The tree springing from the tiniest of all 
seeds is to grow until the birds of the heavens find lodg- 
ment in its outspreading branches. But the process is not 
to go forward without the help of its friends and the at- 
tempt on the part of many an enemy to thwart it. 

Jesus' Emphasis Upon the Kingdom 

1. His central message. — To see this for yourself take 
any one of the synoptic Gospels and make a note of aU 
that Jesus had to say upon this subject. Then compare 
what you have found with his teaching upon any other 
one subject. This theme is the center of his message. All 



A PKACTICAL IDEAL 119 

the teaching of Jesus proceeds from or converges upon this 
great matter of the establishing of the rule of God in 
human hearts and over all human conditions. 

The death of Jesus upon the cross has its highest signifi- 
cance in this: it is for the sake of bringing men out of 
their sins into a right relation with God the Father and 
with each other. In other words, Jesus follows his own 
ideal to its last requirement of sacrifice. He serves with 
his own life the divine cause that brought him into our 
world. Nothing more could be done. 

2. A neglected emphasis. — The emphasis of Jesus upon 
this subject has not always been heeded in the teaching 
and practice of the church. Had it been we should be 
farther on our way toward the realization of the ideal of 
redemption. Progress has been made. Not least import- 
ant is the fact that our own day is recovering and reexpress- 
ing the emphasis of Jesus upon this subject. 

Jesus taught us that the individual does not live for 
himself. He taught us that the Christian fellowship does 
not exist for its own sake nor for the exclusive joy and 
comfort of those composing it. The present-day Christian 
discipleship is gladly following Jesus not only in the state- 
ment of these truths, derived as they are from his own 
message, but in an attempt to put them into practice on 
a scale never hitherto attempted. 

What Would It Mean ? 

1. The brotherhood of man. — He would be a bold person 
who should attempt to answer the question. What would 
it mean if the kingdom of God were established in the 
earth? The question embraces every human life and fel- 
lowship, every human purpose and activity. It really 
girdles the whole of human society. And it has a differ- 
ent meaning for every part of humanity. It would mean 
something different in our United States from what it 
would mean in China, something different in our crowded 
cities from what it would mean in our rural districts. 
Wrong is not just the same the world over. Kighteousness 
does not demand just the same thing of men everywhere. 
Goodness, beauty, and wisdom, justice, and love have such 



120 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

a wealth of meaning that they can never be exactly de- 
scribed and measured. 

Yet fundamentally the meaning would be the same the 
world over. The Prince of Love would rule throughout the 
world, God would everywhere be recognized as the Father 
of mankind. Men would everywhere acknowledge them- 
selves to be brothers. 

2. Human personality sacred. — But, looking at the mat- 
ter more closely, we can all see that certain conditions 
would be established, certain principles written into the 
common life and the social order. 

For one thing human personality would everywhere be 
regarded as the most sacred thing in human society. All 
kinds of material possessions would be counted of lesser 
worth. The color of the man^s skin, the social position 
he occupied, the size of his bank account, would be mat- 
ters of secondary concern. They would not determine hu- 
man relations as they so often do to-day. 

Human resources would be developed and used with ref- 
erence to this principle. The abundance of good things 
with which God has stocked this world would be seen to 
exist for the sake of making all our human relations more 
worthy, and human life itself more livable for every child 
of our race. 

It would not be necessary if the Kingdom were here, 
but if it were necessary, there would be more men in high 
station to speak out, as the governor of one of our South- 
ern States has recently spoken, in favor of giving every 
man his chance and making certain that justice is done 
in every human situation. 

Think, yourself, of some of the changes that would take 
place in our industrial, political, and social order if the 
value of human personality as we see it in the ideal of 
Jesus should be made the principle of practice. 

3. International peace. — War as a method of settling 
human disputes would be done away. When the President 
of the United States stands before the graduating class at 
Annapolis and expresses the wish that no man in that 
group should ever be called upon to fire a gun in taking 
human life, what is that but to express the hope that the 



A PRACTICAL IDEAL 121 

future holds a much fuller realization of the kingdom of 
God in the earth than we have yet seen ? When the leading 
statesmen of the foremost nations begin to express the 
wish that their representatives should confer with refer- 
ence to the possibility of decreasing armaments and limit- 
ing naval and military expense, what is that but to indicate 
that the time has come to ask if some definite thing may 
not be done to push society along toward the realization of 
the ideal of peace and good will which we have in the mes- 
sage of Jesus ? 

War has been necessary in the past. It may be again in 
the future. But war is justified only when the appeal to 
force is the only way of preventing worse evils from 
coming upon humanity. Many who read these lines will 
be among those who gave gallant service to our cause in the 
recent World War. The country will never forget its 
gratitude to them. It will never tire of telHng the story 
of their heroic service and suffering. The gold stars on the 
service flags will be held in constant remembrance by 
future generations. But those who have been through the 
horrors of the recent war are the first and foremost to 
proclaim the necessity of finding a better way for the 
settling of human disputes, the adjustment of international 
differences. 

That way is the way of Jesus. His ideals are more 
powerful than all the battle fleets and forces of the world. 
His principles will batter down oppositions which could 
withstand the onslaught of any attacking force. 

4. Brotherhood of the nations. — The different sections 
of the human family would live together on terms of mutual 
understanding and service. 

The ideal of the Kingdom not only includes the hum- 
blest individual who lives; it also includes the nations of 
the earth. It paints before our minds the picture of an 
all-inclusive kingdom of love and good will. But before 
this picture can become the pattern of reality nations must 
learn, just as must individuals and smaller groups, that 
service and sacrifice are the secret of all true human 
growth and progress. 

Mexico would not be looked at with covetous eyes because 



122 SOCIAL EELATIONSHIPS 

of the incalculable wealth stored in her mountains and 
wells. Korea would not be considered the vassal of a dom- 
inant power. One part of the world would not regard 
almost every other part with suspicion and mistrust. The 
only real competition would be that of serving the ends 
of justice and good will unto the very ends of the earth. 

And progress is being made. We are not altogether 
proud of the way we have treated the red man. If we had 
it all to do over again, no sort of plea of material or 
political necessity could persuade us to repeat history in 
every detail. We do not glory in the inequalities that 
still hamper the opportunities of the Negro in most if not 
all our communities. If we think of perpetrating spme 
act that offends against the highest moral judgment, en- 
lightened by the conscience of Christ, we seek out some 
high-sounding explanation. Similar signs among other 
enlightened peoples are not lacking. 

Can the Ideal Be Eealized? 

1. The answer of history, — The fact that we have to ask 
this question indicates that our minds are still far below 
the level of the mind of Christ. He certainly had no doubt 
upon this point. If he had he was a trifler — a supposition 
incredible. He did not give us a task which we cannot 
accomplish. He did not set before us ideals that simply 
mock us and convict us of our own moral and spiritual 
inefficiency. 

Yet good men are still asking this question. It is im- 
possible to avoid the idea that some ask it to excuse them- 
selves for doing so little to help towards the building of 
the Kingdom. 

Let history suggest to us the line along which we must 
look if we want a rational answer. You do not have to go 
back very far to come to a time when men would have told 
you that it was impossible to banish human slavery from 
this land. Some of the best and wisest men who ever lived 
thought and said that. Even to attempt the thing was to 
invite the ruin of our political and economic structure. 
But suppose a man of light and leading should talk that 
way to-day: what would be thought of him? The aboli- 



A PEACTICAL IDEAL 123 

tion of the liquor traffic and its grossest attendant evil, 
the saloon, is another illustration of the progress of the 
Kingdom in the earth. Many of us have repeatedly heard 
men whose opinions were worth considering declare that 
this never could be done. There was too much money in- 
vested, political influences were too strong, the invasion 
of ^^personal liberty^^ would never be tolerated. We heard 
it all again and again, but the traffic has been outlawed. 
The old-time corner saloon has gone. And although the 
law of the land is being broken every hour of every day, 
time and the growth of right human sentiment will correct 
this. The young men and women in our church schools 
will see to it, now that they all have the ballot, that former 
conditions are never restored. 

The extension of the suffrage makes for the progress of 
the Kingdom. All fundamental inequalities must go be- 
fore the Kingdom can come. Here too the battle was a 
long >nd hard one, but, once won, it is a permanent gain 
for humanity. The dire evils predicted have not come, 
neither has the easily prophesied millennium; but gain 
has been made. God^s purposes move slowly, but they 
never go backward. 

2. The future struggle. — It needs to be pointed out that 
we are moving over the ground where the real battles of the 
future are to be fought. This harmless question about the 
Kingdom really means this : Can the moral principles and 
ideals of Jesus Christ be applied fully to human society? 
There is no question as to their application to the individ- 
ual. We know that a sinning individual can be saved. 
We know that an evil character can be redeemed. And 
we all rejoice over the finding of the one sheep which had 
strayed away from the fold. There is no conflict about all 
that. 

But regarding this extension of the ideals of Jesus to 
include the whole of human society there is the sharpest 
division of opinion. Battle grounds change from genera- 
tion to generation. There is comparatively little conflict 
to-day over the question of the most careful and scientific 
study of the Bible. The boys and girls in our church 
schools are having the advantages of approved methods 



124 SOCIAL EELATIOXSHIPS 

and apparatus of study. But the battle for the ideals of 
Jesus as including society as well as the individual has 
not yet been won. So a man will sometimes vote for a 
candidate who does not come anjrwhere near being the sort 
of person likely to promote the reign of God among men. 
A man will complacently accept profits that have violated 
the principle of the worth of human personality. He will 
think one way of his obligation as a church member, an- 
other way of his obligation as a business or professional 
man. The ethics of Jesus touch us where we live six 
days of the week. For long we have known that they 
had something to say about one day of the week. 

The Privilege and Duty of the Christian 

1. To know the truth. — The Christian must live with 
the teaching of Jesus until he comes to have a clear idea 
of what it is. Then he will realize how utterly reasonable 
it is. He will see that no other way than Jesus^ way is 
rational. The appeal of its own truth and duty will cap- 
ture his intelligence, his interest, his personal power. He 
will come to know that he has found a great cause to which 
he may dedicate his life. 

This does not mean that he will necessarily enter some 
special field of service. The fact is, the cause is as broad 
as the whole field of human action. We need ministers 
and missionaries, but we need Christian merchants and 
factory operatives, politicians and editors. For every legi- 
timate occupation is to be brought under the sway of the 
ideal kingdom. It can be done only by those who know 
what that ideal is and believe that it can be established 
in the hard, actual conditions of human affairs. 

2. To be tolerant. — Many good men honestly doubt 
whether the ideal of the Kingdom is anything more than 
an ideal. Just how they establish their devotion to Christ 
on a reasonable basis, it is hard to see. But the facts 
are as they are. Patience does not mean that we have 
any doubt as to the validity of our own conviction. A toler- 
ance that seeks to see the truth in the view of a man who 
differs from us is very often the means of giving us a 






A PEACTICAL IDEAL 125 

fresh hold upon the truth to which we have committed 
ourselves. 

Sometimes men grow impatient and harshly blame others 
for what seems to be their acceptance of things as they 
are, for the sake of personal ambition and material gains. 
Little is gained by that temper of mind. Especially do 
those young in years need to remember this truth. Take 
the method of Jesus himself as your pattern. 

3. To pay the price. — Be prepared to pay the cost of 
your service of Christ and humanity. Someone has paid 
the cost of our liberties and privileges : why should not we 
in turn be willing to pay a part of the price of the great- 
ening good of the world? Jesus himself told us that his 
service requires the payment of a price. He heroically met 
the test himself and paid the price. Evil and sin are still 
abroad in the earth. They are very powerful. They are 
often intrenched where we least expect to find them. But 
the kingdom of God in the earth is bound to win out. Let 
us take our part as good soldiers of Jesus Christ in the 
warfare by which peace and good will are to be established 
throughout a worldwide dominion. 

Questions foe Discussison 

1. What qualities of the citizen of the Kingdom are most 
difficult to cultivate to-day? 

2. Name some of the facts about modern society which 
make it hard to apply the principles of the Kingdom. 

3. Why do men believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ 
is able to redeem not only the individual but human 
society ? 

4. If individuals are saved, one at a time, will this fulfill 
the expectation and purpose of Jesus? 

5. Do you know of any situation, historically or from 
your own observation, in which the ideals of the Kingdom 
have been very fully realized ? 

6. Why should the church take an open stand against 
those who oppose the application of the principles of Jesus 
to the social order? 

7. Is it reasonable to expect marked progress of the 
Kingdom ideal in this generation? In what directions? 



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